LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 8 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

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SALVATION 



OR 



THE SINNER DIRECTED 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 



BY THE 



Rev. WILLIAM J. McCORD. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION. 






Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 

1846, by 

A. W. MITCHELL, M. D., 

in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court &i the 

Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



The Library 

of Conhrrss 



WASHINGTON 



■ I | i u i .^*AAXAXAAJ I AJk/v/N/> < '' ,| M I J 

Stereotyped by 

S. DOUGLAS WYETH, 

No. 7 Pear St., Philadelphia. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

SALVATION IMPLIES EXPOSURE. 

Man created holy, but fell ; sinful ; far from righteousness ; 
exposed to the wrath of God ; reproaches of conscience ; 
hell. Needs salvation to deliver from danger ; renovate 
his nature ; justify him before God ; prepare him for 
heaven ; and make him blessed for ever 7 

CHAPTER II. 

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO SAVE US. 

Jesus came to save ; he saves from sin and the curse ; 
takes his people to heaven. God is holy ; just ; how can 
he forgive ? Jesus our substitute ; died in our stead ; 
made an atonement, to be embraced by faith. Salvation 
desirable ; delivers from the guilt, pollution, and power 
of sin, and from hell ; the goodness of God in providing 
and offering salvation 26 

CHAPTER III. 

IT IS A GREAT SALVATION. 

Planned by God ; purchased by Christ ; price great ; ap- 
plied by the Spirit ; effects a great change ; saves from 
great misery; raises to great happiness; interests an. 
gels ; worthy of all acceptation 46 



IV CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

SALVATION IS BROUGHT NEAR. 

Brought near in the Scriptures; in the preached gospel 
and religious ordinances ; offers and invitations ; the 
Spirit; when the word reaches our ears; our under- 
standings ; the conscience ; the heart. Means of grace 
to be used with seriousness and prayer 66 

CHAPTER V. 

HOW TO OBTAIN SALVATION. 

The great question ; implies anxiety ; desire of informa- 
tion. Must feel our need of salvation ; see a fitness in 
it ; pray for a new heart ; renounce self; receive and 
rest upon Jesus Christ ; coming to Christ ; repentance ; 
holiness ; the way plain and easy 80 

CHAPTER VI. 

EXCUSES. 

Is God so merciful that he will not punish unbelievers ? 
Shall all men be saved ? Is salvation by works ? Can 
the sinner make himself better ? Does he fear he can- 
not be forgiven? 97 

CHAPTER VII. 

MOTIVES. 

God has claims ; abusing his goodness ; slighting the com- 
passion of Christ ; grieving the Spirit ; the situation of 
the awakened interesting and critical — should decide 
now. Conclusion 107 



PKEFACE. 



There are many works already before the 
public, the design of which is to lead men 
to Christ. But a work of this kind may not 
be rendered useless because others of a simi- 
lar character have preceded it. Every writer 
has a manner of his own ; and the exercises 
of the awakened are almost endlessly diver- 
sified. The subject as presented by one author 
may meet some cases, but not others. May 
I not hope then, that notwithstanding the 
many who have preceded me in this path, 
this little volume may prove glad tidings to 
some inquiring soul ? It may meet the case 
of some who have read other works of this 
kind without finding peace ; and it may possi- 
bly fall into the hands of some who have 
never had the privilege of reading a treatise 
in answer to the great question, What must I 
do to be saved ? It is for such, and especially 
for the young, and for those in our wide spread 



VI PREFACE. 

country who enjoy not the regular ministra- 
tions of the sanctuary, that I have written. 
Hence I have endeavoured to keep near to 
the Scriptures, and have quoted largely from 
them. The Spirit, in his work on the soul, 
honours the word ; and so must they who 
would be helpful to those who are under the 
teachings of the Spirit. 

Awakened persons, and persons seriously 
disposed, who may not be in the enjoyment 
of the regular means of grace, or may not 
have access to a pastor or pious friend ; or 
who, through diffidence, may fear to acquaint 
others with their anxiety, or ask advice; may, 
it is hoped, be benefited by this brief treatise. 
Such were my circumstances ; and had such 
a work been put into my hands, or been 
within my reach, it would have been of in- 
calculable service to me. I hope this may be 
useful to others in similar circumstances. 
That God may honour this humble attempt 
to serve him, is the earnest prayer of the 
author. 

W. J. M. 

Amenia, N. Y., May, 1846. 



SALVATION. 



CHAPTER I. 

SALVATION IMPLIES EXPOSURE. 

Isaiah lii. 7. — How beautiful upon the mountains are the 
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth 
peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publish- 
eth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth ! 

We love the bearer of good tidings. We 
welcome him for the sake of his message. 
And we prize the message in proportion to 
its value. So should we in the concerns of 
the soul and the things of God. We should 
greet the bearers of the gospel message. That 
message, though variously described, may be 
summed up in a single word — the sweetest 
word that ever met the ear of mortal man — 
salvation ! " How beautiful upon the moun- 
tains are the feet of him that .... publisheth 
salvation ! " Isa. lii. 7. 

7 



O THE SINNER DIRECTED 

" Salvation ! let the echo fly 
The spacious earth around ; 
While all the armies of the sky 
Conspire to raise the sound." 

Salvation ! Reader, let me spend a serious 
hour with you upon this theme. The subject 
is important. No other can equal it in im- 
portance. It is the most momentous theme 
to which the mind of man can be turned. 
It relates to the body and to the soul, to time 
and to eternity, to God and man, to heaven 
and hell. It is a question of weal or woe, of 
happiness or misery, and that through an 
endless duration. As it relates to you, it is 
whether you shall be saved or lost ; whether 
you shall soar and sing with angels, or sink 
and suffer with ruined spirits. It is a ques- 
tion, too, which concerns yourself and in- 
volves your own individual interests for both 
worlds, the present and the future. No eva- 
sion of the subject can diminish its import- 
ance, nor separate from it your own personal 
concern. In comparison with it, what is this 
world with all its pleasures, its riches, its 
honours ? Nothing, and less than nothing ! 
Go, count the stars, and they are suns, the 
centres of innumerable worlds. Were all 
these worlds one solid mass of gold — one 
diamond gem — it would be nothing in com- 
parison with salvation. And shall not this 
subject receive a moment's attention ? Will 
*9U not pause and consider it? O stop and 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 9 

think ! Read this little book as for your life ; 
welcome it as the bearer of glad tidings ; and 
let your prayer ascend to God for mercy. 
Cry for his Spirit to impress the truth upon 
your heart ! 

This subject is interesting. It should be 
interesting to you, because your own im- 
mortal destiny is involved in it; and that 
w T hich so intimately concerns yourself should 
enlist your whole attention, and absorb all 
your powers in its study and contemplation. 
Besides, this subject, connected as it is with 
the character and glory of God, places the 
great Jehovah before us in the most endear- 
ing light, and gives a clearer view of his per- 
fections than can anywhere else be found. 
We see in it " the glory of God in the face of 
Jesus Christ" 2 Cor. iv. 6. It unfolds the 
plan of redemption, " the mystery of godli- 
ness," into which even the angels desire to 
look. 1 Tim. iii. 16. 1 Pet. i. 12. It speaks 
too of the glories of heaven, and sets life, 
eternal life, before us as the prize which we 
are to seek, the crown for which we are to 
strive. If there be one subject which, more 
than any other, claims the attention of man ; 
if there be one theme which challenges an 
interest above every other, it is salvation: 
the very subject which now invites your 
serious and prayerful thought; the very 
theme which this volume introduces to your 
notice, beseeching you to heed the message 
which it brings. 



10 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

Salvation implies exposure. It implies sin 
and danger from which we need to be saved 
Were there no exposure, there would be no 
need of salvation ; and indeed there could b^ 
no salvation. Hence it is written, " The son 
of man came to seek and to save that which 
was lost." Luke xix. 10. Man is lost, and 
therefore needs to be saved ; exposed, and 
therefore needs deliverance. 

Man was created holy, in the image of God. 
" So God created man in his own image : 
in the image of God created he him/' Gen. 
i. 27. This image, as we learn from the 
Apostle, where he speaks of the renovation 
of our nature, and the consequent reformation 
of our life, consisted in knowledge, righteous- 
ness, and holiness. Thus it is written, " And 
have put on the new man, which is renewed 
in knowledge after the image of him that 
created him." Col. iii. 10. And, " That ye 
put off, concerning the former conversation, 
the old man, which is corrupt according to 
the deceitful lusts ; and be renewed in the 
spirit of your mind ; and that ye put on the 
new man, which after God is created in 
righteousness and true holiness." Eph. iv. 
22 — 24. It is useless to speculate about what 
might have been our condition if Adam had 
not sinned. The sad fact is recorded that he 
did sin; he fell from "the estate wherein he 
was created," and by his fall lost the image 
of God in which he was made, and involved 
himself and his posterity in guilt and ruin. 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 11 

We are sinners, by nature sinful ; for " that 
which is born of the flesh, is flesh." John iii. 
6. " We are estranged from the womb ; we 
go astray as soon as we are born." Psalm 
lviii. 3. Our understandings are darkened, 
as it is written, " Having the understanding 
darkened, being alienated from the life of God 
through the ignorance that is in them, because 
of the blindness of their heart." Eph. iv. 18. 
Our affections are corrupted ; our wills en- 
slaved. " The whole head is sick, and the 
whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot 
even unto the head there is no soundness in 
it ; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying 
sores." Isa. i. 5, 6. " We are all as an un- 
clean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as 
filthy rags." Isa. Ixiv. 6. We are by nature 
children of wrath and enemies of God, for 
" the carnal mind is enmity against him." 
Eph. ii. 3. Rom. viii. 7. We are averse to 
that which is good, and seek pleasure in that 
which is " earthly, sensual, devilish." Jas. 
iii. 15. 

'* Look how we grovel here below, 

Fond of these trifling toys : 
Our souls can neither fly nor go, 
To reach eternal joys." 

The fall of Adam ruined the race. " He 
begat a son in his own likeness." Gen. v. 3. 
1 Who can bring a clean thing out of an un- 
clean ? not one." Job xiv. 4. To the natural 



12 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

corruption of our hearts, we have added the 
actual transgressions of our lives. We were 
born in sin, and we have lived in sin. Psalm 
li. 5. " Communion with God is lost ; we 
are under his wrath and curse, and so are 
liable to all the miseries of this life, to death 
itself, and to the pains of hell for ever." 
Deep and deadly are the stains of guilt. So 
far are we fallen from our original righteous- 
ness, that we take pleasure in our iniqui- 
ties, " and roll sin as a sweet morsel under 
our tongues." Wickedness is sweet in our 
mouth. Job xx. 12,13. ~" How abominable 
and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity 
like water!" Job xv. 16. Hear the testi- 
mony of the great Apostle: "We have 
proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they 
are all under sin ; as it is written, There is 
none righteous, no, not one : there is none 
that understandeth, there is none that seek- 
eth after God. They are all gone out of the 
way, they are together become unprofitable : 
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. 
Their throat is an open sepulchre; with 
their tongues they have used deceit ; the poi- 
son of asps is under their lips : whose mouth 
is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet 
are swift to shed blood. Destruction and 
misery are in their ways: and the way of 
peace have they not known. There is no 
fear of God before their eyes." Rom. iii. 
9 — 18. This is a dark picture ; but in the 
first chapter of Romans we have one still 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 13 

darker, which is thus concluded — and this 
is the climax in the description of man's na- 
tive character — " Who, knowing the judg- 
ment of God, that they which commit such 
things are worthy of death, not only do the 
same, but have pleasure in them that do 
them." Rom. i. 18—32. 

Thus it appears that man now is far from 
righteousness. His Maker's image is lost; 
and Jehovah saith by the prophet, " Heark- 
en unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far 
from righteousness." Isa. xlvi. 12. Men 
are far from righteousness as sinners. This 
charge includes the whole race. All are 
guilty before God. You are guilty. The 
law convicts you as a transgressor, and 
thunders out its curses against you. You 
are a criminal. Because of your sins, ori- 
ginal and actual, in thought, word, and 
deed, in heart and life, you are far, O ! how 
far, from innocency. As condemned by the 
law for their transgressions, men are far 
from righteousness. " By the law is the 
knowledge of sin." Rom. iii. 20. The law 
detects and discovers sin, as well as reveals 
its nature. Rom. vii. 7. And the law knows 
no mercy. It condemns for sin, for the first 
sin, for the least sin. " He that offends in 
one point is guilty of all." James ii. 10. — 
Gal. iii. 10. "I was alive without the law 
once," saith Paul, " but when the command- 
ment came, sin revived, and I died." Rom. 
vii. 9, The law slays the vain hopes of the 
2 



14 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

self-righteous. It thunders terror in the ear 
of guilt; it condemns; it cries for blood. 
Hence it is written, " He that believeth not, 
is condemned already." John iii. 18. Sin- 
ners are far from righteousness because they 
are far from justification. Justification is 
the reverse of condemnation. And as they 
are condemned, they of course are not justi- 
fied. They are as far from justification as 
they are deep in condemnation. Nor are 
they in the way to be justified. They are 
unwilling to be justified in God's way. " For 
they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, 
and going about to establish their own 
righteousness, have not submitted themselves 
unto the righteousness of God." Rom. x. 3. 
They are vainly hoping to get to heaven in 
a way of their own. And when invited to 
the gospel-feast, they all with one consent 
begin to make excuse. Luke xiv. 17 — 20. 
How many are their excuses! How ingeni- 
ous are they in devising pleas by which to 
justify their neglect of the great salvation, 
their indifference to the things of God, and 
the concerns of the soul, and of another 
world ! Yes, reader, how many have been 
your excuses ! How well you remember 
them ! How clearly you recollect with what 
frivolous pleas you dismissed your serious 
impressions in former days, and grieved 
away from your soul the Spirit of the Lord ! 
And even now, by what means do you jus- 
tify yourself in the rejection of Christ! I 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 15 

need not repeat these excuses, nor dwell 
upon them. You know them perfectly ; and 
your conscience, as a faithful monitor, brings 
them full to your view, and convicts you of 
guilt in thus deferring the most important of 
all concerns. You see in these excuses, and 
in the disposition which makes them, that 
you are far from righteousness. Were you 
innocent, would you wish to be excused 
when invited to the Saviour? Were your 
heart right, w T ould you be content to live — 
could you live — i( without hope and without 
God in the world?" Eph. ii. 12. Would 
religious duties be, as they now are, your 
aversion? What is now the testimony of 
your life, but that you are in the gall of bitter- 
ness, and in the bond of iniquity? Acts viii. 
23. " Now the works of the flesh are mani- 
fest, which are these, adultery, fornication, 
uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witch- 
craft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, 
strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, 
drunkenness, revelings, and such like : of the 
w r hich I tell you before, as I have also told 
you in time past, that they which do such 
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." 
Gal. v. 19—21. 

Hence men are exposed to the wrath of 
God. It is the testimony of Scripture that 
" God is angry with the wicked every day." 
Ps. vii. 11. He declares, " ye have kindled a 
fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever." 
Jer. xvii. 4. And again, u a fire is kindled in 



16 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest 
hell." Deut. xxxii. 22. God is not moved with 
anger as we are. He hath neither bodily 
parts, nor human passions. His anger is his 
aversion — the opposition of his nature — to 
that which is evil, and his determination to 
punish it. His is not the anger of man ; it is 
the anger of God. It is indignation against 
sin. He is immutably opposed to sin; and 
from the very holiness of his nature, he must 
and will punish the transgressor. He abhors 
evil. He cannot look upon sin. It is the 
abominable thing that he hates. Jer. xliv. 4. 
He will visit it w r ith merited punishment ; for 
" he is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and 
cannot look on iniquity." Hab. i. 13. The 
sinner may expect to feel his vengeance. He 
is exposed to " the fierceness and wrath of 
Almighty God." Rev. xix. 15. " What then 
shall he do when God riseth up 1 and when 
he visiteth, what shall he answer him ?" Job 
xxxi. 14. A day is coming when " upon the 
wicked God shall rain snares, fire and brim- 
stone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be 
the portion of their cup." Ps. xi. 6. For it 
is written, " The hand of the Lord shall be 
known towards his servants, and his indigna- 
tion toward his enemies. For behold, the 
Lord will come with fire, and with his cha- 
riots like a whirlwind, to render his anger 
with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." 
Isa. lxvi. 14, 15. " The Lord will take ven- 
geance on his adversaries, and he reserveth 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 



17 



wrath for his enemies." Nah. i. 2. " It is a 
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living 
God ; for our God is a consuming fire." Heb. 
x. 31, and xii. 29. " Who can stand before 
his indignation? and who can abide in the 
fierceness of his anger ? his fury is poured out 
like fire." Nah. i. 6. " The expectation of the 
wicked is wrath." Prov. xi. 23. " Behold, 
the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with 
wrath and fierce anger .... and he shall de- 
stroy the sinners." Isa. xiii. 9. 

The wicked are called children of wrath. 
Eph. ii. 3. They are said to " treasure up 
unto themselves wrath against the day of 
wrath," Rom. ii. 5 ; and the Saviour declares 
that unbelievers have " the wrath of God 
abiding on them." John iii. 36. God's wrath 
is compared to a whirlwind, which destroys 
every thing before it. Thus it is written, " He 
shall take them away as with a whirlwind, 
both living, and in his wrath." Ps. lviii. 9 — 11. 
Their destruction shall come as a whirlwind. 
Prov. i. 27. " And he shall also blow upon 
them, and they shall wither, and the whirl- 
wind shall take them away as stubble. Isa. 
xl. 24. " Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is 
gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: 
it shall fall grievously upon the head of the 
wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not re- 
turn, until he have executed, and till he have 
performed the thoughts of his heart: in the 
latter days ye shall consider it perfectly." Jer. 
xxiii. 19, 20; and xxx. 23. " Do we provoke 
2 * 



18 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

the Lord to jealousy ? are we stronger than 
he ?" 1 Cor. x. 22. And yet by our sins we 
have provoked him. He is angry with us. 
Think of an angry God ! He can dash you 
to pieces in a moment. " He looketh on the 
earth, and it trembleth: he toucheth the hills, 
and they smoke." Ps. civ. 32. " He taketh 
up the isles as a very little thing ; he sitteth 
upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabit- 
ants thereof are as grasshoppers ; yea, all na- 
tions before him are as nothing ; and they are 
counted to him less than nothing, and vanity/' 
Isa. xl. 15 — 23. Nor can you hide from his 
presence. His eye is ever upon you. Flee 
to the ends of the earth, and still he is near. 
Make your bed in hell, and he is there. Ps. 
cxxxix. 7 — 12. You are ever beneath the 
eye and exposed to the wrath of an angry 
God! 

Men are also exposed to the reproaches of 
conscience. It has been made a question whe- 
ther heaven is a place; and some who deny 
that it is, and w r ould have heaven everywhere, 
are equally anxious to have hell nowhere. 
Some imagine they should be happy, could 
they but persuade themselves that there is no 
hell — a system of belief, according to which 
we should fear the sexton more than the mur- 
derer ; for if hell means nothing more than the 
grave, then we are taught to fear, not the man 
who kills us, but the man by whom we are 
buried ! Matt. x. 28. But conscience would 
remain, even if there were no hell. This is 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 19 

inseparable from the sinner's self. It will go 
with him where he goes, and remain with him 
where he remains. While he continues unre- 
newed and unforgiven, as he must for ever if 
he die unpardoned, it will follow him with re- 
proaches and make him miserable. In this 
world it may be quieted; it may be lulled to 
sleep ; it may be seared : but it is not dead, it 
only sleepeth ; the time will come when it will 
awake, and then it w r ill bite like a serpent and 
sting like an adder. Prov. xxiii. 32. The re- 
proaches of others we may endure, but who 
can bear the reproaches of himself, and that 
for ever ? To be self-condemned is to be 
miserable. 

Reader, conscience is a part of yourself. 
You cannot divest yourself of it. It reproves 
you for your sins ; and though it may be 
hushed and seared, there are times when it 
will speak, and when its voice must be heard. 
And however you may silence or evade its 
reproofs in this world, they cannot be silenced 
nor evaded in the world to come. A guilty 
conscience must be the torment of the wicked 
wherever they are; and it will make a hell 
of any place. Conscience is " a bosom 
friend, or a bosom fury." It is " a living 
scorpion to the deathless soul" of the wicked 
— the undying worm that will ever gnaw 
upon their hearts — upon your heart ! Stark 
ix. 44—48. 

As sinners are now 7 under the wrath of God, 
condemned by his law, and in a state of en- 



20 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

mity with him ; so are they now subject to 
the checks, reproofs, and reproaches of con- 
science. But as the wrath of God is yet wrath 
to come — punishment yet to be inflicted — re- 
served for another state of being ; so the re- 
proaches of conscience, the remorse it will 
occasion, the despair it will inflict, are yet to 
come. It is evil w T hich impends, and from 
which there is no escape, but by timely re- 
pentance. Conscience may sleep here, but it 
will be awake in the future world. It will 
bring up to view the scenes through which 
the sinner has passed in this probationary 
state. It will recall the Sabbath, the sanc- 
tuary, and the means of grace possessed and 
abused ; the Bible with its precious invitations 
neglected ; the grieving of the Spirit ; the re- 
jection of the Saviour ; and one terrific sound 
will ever ring in the ear of the lost — O sinner, 
thou hast destroyed thyself! Hos. xiii. 9. 
Even now thy conscience condemns thee, 
reader ; " and if thy heart condemn thee, God 
is greater than thy heart, and knoweth all 
things." 1 John iii. 20. The man who had 
not on a wedding-garment, was speechless 
because condemned by his own conscience ; 
and so wilt thou be when arraigned before the 
bar of God. Matt. xxii. 11—13. "Then shall 
the wicked say to the mountains and rocks, 
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him 
that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath 
of the Lamb : for the great day of his wrath is 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 21 

come, and who shall be able to stand ?" Rev. 
vi. 16, 17. 

Hence you are exposed to the miseries of 
hell. Death will not terminate your exist- 
ence. 

" 'T is not the whole of life to live, 
Nor all of death to die." 

You must live for ever. There is a hell ; and 
to it you, as a sinner, are exposed. Its mise- 
ries are dreadful ; their duration eternal. 
There the wrath of God is poured out with- 
out mixture upon the wicked. There con- 
science stings the soul with remorse. There 
the devil and his angels torment the lost. 
There are wailing and gnashing of teeth. 
Matt. xiii. 42. O what untold horrors reign 
in the prison of despair ! Every sense of the 
body, and every power of the soul, is an ave- 
nue of pain ; and there is no end, and no re- 
lief, to the miseries of that gloomy world. 
The soul once lost, is lost for ever. " These 
shall go away into everlasting punishment." 
Matt. xxv. 46. u The smoke of their torment 
ascendeth up for ever and ever." Rev. xiv. 
11. This is the second death: the wages of 
sin. Rev. xx. 14. Rom. vi. 23. It is the 
curse, the penalty of God's law, which is in- 
curred by every transgressor ; as it is written, 
" Cursed is every one that continueth not in 
all things which are written in the book of the 
law to do them." Gal. iii. 10. Who hath ful- 
filled the law in all things ! Not one. Who 



22 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

then is not liable to the curse ? And if death 
overtakes you in your sins, what becomes of 
your hopes, and where is your soul ? Lost — 
lost for ever — doomed to the miseries of hell ! 
Who can dwell with the devouring fire ? who 
can dwell with everlasting burnings'? Isa. 
xxxiii. 14. Think of the rich man begging 
for a single drop of water, and receiving for 
answer that he had received all his good 
things, and must now be tormented for ever ! 
Luke xvi. 24, 25. Think that his case may 
be your own, if you slight this message of 
salvation ; and O awake to your danger, and 
flee from the wrath to come ! Matt. iii. 7. 

Such, then, is the exposure which salva- 
tion implies, and from which it proposes to 
rescue us. Such, reader, is your condition, 
such your state. You are fallen, sinful, far 
from righteousness, exposed to the wrath of 
God, to the reproaches of conscience, to the 
curse of the law, and to the miseries of hell. 
What a fearful state is this to be in ! Dying 
thus, you are undone. You are then a pri- 
soner of despair ; and hope can never beam 
on you. 

From this discussion we may infer the need 
of salvation. We stand in perishing need of 
it; in so much need, that, without it, w 7 e must 
perish; without it we must die in our sins, 
and can never be admitted to the Saviour's 
presence in peace. John viii. 21. 

We need salvation to deliver us from dan- 
ger. Tidings of the way of deliverance must 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 23 

be good tidings — " good tidings of good." 
Would we but open our eyes to our exposure, 
we must feel our need of deliverance. Look 
around you, reader; see the dangers which 
environ you ; see the wrath of God impend- 
ing ; the flames of hell gathering at your feet ; 
the pit enlarging for your reception ; guilt 
accumulating; the heart hardening; life wear- 
ing away ; the day of death hastening ; your- 
self standing on the brink of the grave and 
the borders of the pit ; judgment lingering not, 
damnation slumbering not, 2 Pet. ii. 3 ; and 
tell me if you do not need salvation — need it 
to deliver you from peril — to bring you up out 
of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set 
your feet upon a rock, and establish your 
goings, and put a new song in your mouth, 
even praise unto our God? Ps. xl. 2, 3. 
Yes, you need salvation to rescue you from 
danger. 

And you need it to renovate your nature. 
Your heart is depraved, and you must have 
a new heart and a right spirit, or go down to 
endless woe. The Saviour has said, " Ye 
must be born again." John iii. 7. The cor- 
ruption of your nature renders a change of 
heart necessary. You must experience the 
washing of regeneration, and the renewing of 
the Holy Ghost. Titus iii. 5. Jesus "gave 
himself for us, that he might redeem us from 
all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar 
people, zealous of good works." Titus ii. 14. 
You are impure. You need to be purified,* 



24 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

sanctified, and cleansed. The old man must 
be put off, and the new man put on. The 
Lord has promised to give a new heart, 
and to put his Spirit within us, Ezek. xxxvi. 
25 — 27 ; and to this end you need salvation, 
that you may be born of the Spirit, and be- 
come a new creature in Christ Jesus. 2 Cor. 
v. 17. 

You need salvation to justify you before 
God, and make you righteous in his sight. 
You are now far from righteousness, stained 
with guilt, in a state of condemnation. The 
law has demands which you have never met, 
and never can meet. It cries out for ven- 
geance on you. You are a condemned crimi- 
nal. Not only do you need a renovation of 
heart, but a justifying righteousness. * The 
salvation offered you brings near an all-suffi- 
cient righteousness ; and you need it, that you 
may be acquitted, be accounted righteous, 
and be presented without spot before the 
throne of God. O sinner ! were deliverance 
proclaimed to captives bound in prison, with 
what joy would they welcome the good tid- 
ings ! And will not you welcome the message 
which speaks of deliverance from wrath, and 
which offers to you the liberty of the sons of 
God ? " If the Son shall make you free, you 
shall be free indeed." John viii. 36. 

You need salvation to prepare you for hea- 
ven. You are now unprepared. You feel 
unprepared. With all your guilt upon you, 
you are not fit for the presence and the praise 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 25 

of God with the pure spirits above. You are 
not ready for the summons of death ; not 
ready for the trials of the judgment; not 
ready for the joys of heaven. Those joys are 
holy joys, but you are not holy. Those joys 
flow from God's presence, but you are not 
prepared to welcome and delight in his pre- 
sence. Your heart must first be made new ; 
your sins must first be washed away ; you 
must first be clothed with the Redeemer's 
righteousness, and partake of the sanctifica- 
tion of his Spirit. The same mind must be in 
you which w 7 as in Christ Jesus ; for " if any 
man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none 
of his." Phil. ii. 5. Rom. viii. 9. And how 
can you ever be prepared for the mansions 
of rest, if you reject salvation, refuse to em- 
brace the Lord Jesus Christ, and resist and 
grieve his Spirit? 

You need salvation, not only to take away 
your sins and fit you for heaven, but to take 
you there, and make you blessed for ever. 
Salvation begins here in the renovation of our 
nature and the pardon of sin ; it is completed 
in heaven, where w 7 e are made perfectly hap- 
py and blessed for evermore. If we are not 
saved from sin here, we shall not be saved 
in heaven hereafter. Yet heaven is what 
you desire, heaven is what you hope for ; but 
heaven you can never reach if you reject this 
salvation. To reach heaven you need salva- 
tion. There is no heaven without it. Then 
embrace it. Welcome the message and obey 
3 



26 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

it ; and let it be the language of your heart, 
" How beautiful upon the mountains are the 
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that 
publisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings 
of good, that publisheth salvation ; that saith 
unto Zion, Thy God reigneth !" 



CHAPTER II. 

WHAT HAS BEEN DONE TO SAVE US. 

Matt. i. 21. — And she shall bring forth a son, and thou 
shalt call his name Jesus : for he shall save his people 
from their sins. 

We have seen that salvation implies expo- 
sure, and that we therefore need salvation. 
Salvation is deliverance from sin and its con- 
sequences; from the guilt, pollution, and power 
of sin here, and the punishment of sin hereaf- 
ter. To be saved is to be rescued from sin 
and hell, and taken to heaven ; to be restored 
to the favour of God in this world and the 
enjoyment of God in the next. It begins in 
regeneration and justification; is carried on 
in our sanctification, and is completed in our 
glorification. As it is written, " Whom he 
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 27 

conformed to the image of his Son, that he 
might be the first-born among many brethren. 
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them 
he also cal'ied ; and whom he called, them he 
also justified ; and whom he justified, them he 
also glorified. " Rom. viii. 29, 30. Hence, 
when Joseph is instructed respecting the birth 
of the Saviour, he is also instructed respect- 
ing his name, " Thou shalt call his name Jesus, 
for he shall save his people from their sins.'' 
Matt. i. 21. 

Jesus came to save. This was the design 
of his advent. " For God sent not his Son 
into the world to condemn the world, but that 
the world through him might be saved." John 
iii. 17. " The Son of man came not to be 
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give 
his life a ransom for many." Matt. xx. 28. 
" He came not to destroy, but to save." Luke 
ix. 56. " Wherefore, when he cometh into 
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou 
w r ouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared 
me ; in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sin 
thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, 
I come (in the volume of the book it is written 
of me) to do thy will, O God. ... By the 
which will we are sanctified through the of- 
fering of the body of Jesus Christ once for 
all." Heb. x. 5 — 10. He assumed our nature 
for the very purpose of accomplishing our 
deliverance and salvation by his own death. 
" Forasmuch then as the children are par- 
takers of flesh and blood, he also himself like- 



28 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

wise took part of the same; that through 
death he might destroy him that had the 
power of death, that is, the devil ; and deliver 
them, who, through fear of death, were all 
their lifetime subject to bondage." Heb. ii. 
14, 15. " This is a faithful saying, and 
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus" 
came into the world to save sinners." 1 Tim. 
i. 15. 

Jesus saves from sin and from the curse of 
the law. It would be an interesting study to 
collect together the names and titles of the 
blessed Redeemer, and ascertain their true 
and real import. Many of them have a rela- 
tion to us, to our circumstances and wants. 
We are sinners ; and he is called Jesus — Sa- 
viour — because he saves from sin. You must 
be saved from your sins, or they will be your 
ruin. And sin exposes to wrath; and from 
wrath you must be saved, if saved at all. 
From this too Jesus saves. Saith an Apostle, 
" For they themselves show of us what man- 
ner of entering in we had unto you, and how 
ye turned to God from idols, to serve the 
living and true God ; and to wait for his Son 
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, 
even Jesus, which delivered us from the 
wrath to come." 1 Thess. i. 9, 10. "For 
what the law could not do, in that it w r as 
weak through the flesh, God sending his own 
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, 
condemned sin in the flesh ; that the righteous- 
ness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 29 

walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
Rom. viii. 3, 4. 

Jesus takes his people to heaven. This 
completes their salvation. He has said, " In 
my Father's house are many mansions : if it 
were not so, I would have told you. I go to 
prepare a place for you. And if I go and 
prepare a place for you, I will come again 
and receive you unto myself; that where I 
am, there ye may be also." John xiv. 2, 3. 
To be with Christ, and where he is, is the 
perfection of bliss. Hence it is written, " Now 
are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet 
appear what we shall be : but we know that, 
when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; 
for we shall see him as he is." 1 John iii. 2. 
He will say unto them on his right hand, 
" Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the 
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
of the world. And the righteous shall go 
away into life eternal." Matt. xxv. 34, 46. 
11 Them which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
with him." 1 Thess. iv. 14. " God himself 
shall be with them, and be their God. And 
God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes; and there shall be no more death, 
neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there 
be any more pain : for the former things are 
passed away." Rev. xxi. 3, 4. The happi- 
ness of the righteous is beautifully described 
in Rev. vii. 9 — 17; They stand before the 
throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with 
white robes, and palms in their hands. They 
3* 



30 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

cry with a loud voice, Salvation to our God 
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the 
Lamb. And the angels join in their song, 
saying, Amen : Blessing, and glory, and wis- 
dom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and 
power, and might, be unto our God for ever 
and ever. Amen. And what are these which 
are arrayed in white robes ? and whence came 
they 1 . . . These are they which came out of 
great tribulation, and have washed their 
robes, and made them white in the blood of 
the Lamb. Therefore are they before the 
throne of God, and serve him day and night 
in his temple: and he that sitteth on the 
throne shall dwell among them. They shall 
hunger no more, neither thirst any more; 
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any 
heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst 
of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead 
them unto living fountains of waters: and 
God shall wipe away all tears from their 
eyes. 

" With what sublime simplicity and brevity 
Paul sums up the bliss of heaven : * So shall 
we be for ever with the Lord/ It would be 
much to ' be for ever with ' any one of the 
angels, in any part of heaven, however re- 
mote from the throne of God and the Lamb. 
It would be much to ' be for ever with ' any 
one of the saints, even if not within the sight 
or the sound of the 'general assembly' be- 
fore the throne. It would be much to 'be 
for ever ' alone on the most distant hill of im- 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 31 

mortality. It would be much to i be for ever 9 
any where, out of hell. What then, must it 
be, to * be for ever with the Lord V " — Yet to 
this does Jesus exalt his people. His inter- 
cessory prayer is answered in their glorifica- 
tion, where sin and sorrow are alike unknown : 
— " Father, I will that they also whom thou 
hast given me be with me where I am; that 
they may behold my glory, which thou hast 
given me : for thou lovedst me before the 
foundation of the world." John xvii. 24. 

But how does Jesus save his people from 
their sins? What has been done for our 
salvation? Here two things are to be re- 
membered : 

1. God is holy and hates sin. He is holi- 
ness itself; and he says, "Be ye holy; for I 
am holy." 1 Pet. i. 16. "He is the holy 
Lord God Almighty." Isa. vi. 3. Rev. iv. 8. 
Sin is his abhorrence ; it is an abomination to 
him. Jer. xliv. 4. He hates it, not only as it 
is a transgression of his law and an abuse of 
his goodness, but as it is in itself opposed to 
the holiness of his nature and the rectitude of 
his character. And, 

2. God is just and will punish sin. His 
character is perfect. All his attributes are 
infinite; and they are equally dear to him. 
He will never sacrifice one of them to an- 
other, nor exalt one of them above another. 
He will never sacrifice his justice, nor his 
truth, to his benevolence. There is a beau- 
tiful harmony among his attributes. There 



32 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

is no conflict among them. They all conspire 
to render his character infinitely perfect and 
lovely. His truth is as dear to him as his 
goodness ; his justice is as dear as his mercy. 
As he must, from the holiness of his nature, 
hate sin; so must he, from the justice of 
his nature, punish it. " A God of truth and 
without iniquity; just and right is he." Deut. 
xxxii. 4. And he saith, " To me belongeth 
vengeance and recompense; their foot shall 
slide in due time ; for the day of their calamity 
is at hand, and the things that shall come 
upon them make haste." Deut. xxxii. 35. 

The Bible teaches that God is love : and it 
also teaches that he is holy, just, and true. 
Justice and truth are essential perfections of 
his character, as well as benevolence; and 
holiness is the combined moral excellence of 
all his perfections. He is holy ; and holiness 
is necessarily opposed to sin. The happiness 
of the creatures is not the end of creation, but 
the glory of the Creator ; and when the crea- 
tures do not seek that glory, and make it the 
end of their being " to glorify God and enjoy 
him for ever," his holiness and justice both 
require their punishment. This punishment is 
the wrath to come, to which sinners are now 
exposed, and which falls upon them after they 
pass from this vale of tears. It is punishment 
resulting from the essential and necessary 
opposition of God's nature, and character, 
and purposes, to every thing impure — punish- 






IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 33 

ment inflicted because God is holy, just, and 
true. 

Now the question arises — if God is holy 
and hates sin ; if he is just and will punish it ; 
if he is true and faithful, and will fulfil his 
threatenings and execute wrath upon his ene- 
mies ; then how can we be forgiven and 
saved? In reply it may be observed — 

That we are sinners, exposed to the vin- 
dictive justice and fierce anger of God for our 
sins. Our exposure has been made plain; 
and we cannot deliver ourselves. We are 
without strength to accomplish our salvation. 
Rom. v. 6. Isa. xlv. 24. We need a strong 
deliverer; one who is able and mighty to 
save. 2 Sam. xxii. 2. Psalm lxxxix. 19. Isa. 
lxiii. 1. We cannot be saved by our works. 
The law demands perfect and constant obedi- 
ence; no present or future obedience, could 
we render it, can atone for the past. The 
law says, Do and live ; but as we have not 
done, it condemns us to death. And the law 
which condemns us for the first offence, can 
never justify us. " By the deeds of the law, 
there shall no flesh be justified." Rom. iii. 
20. We cannot be saved by our own suffer- 
ings, self-inflictions, tortures, penances. No 
sufferings of ours can avail to atone for our 
transgressions. Vain are the heathen's tor- 
tures, vain his ablutions ; and equally vain are 
any self-inflictions of ours to take away our 
sins. We may ask, u Wherewith shall I come 
before the Lord, and bow myself before the 



34 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

high God? Shall I come before him with 
burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old ? 
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of 
rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ? 
Shall I give my first-born for my transgres- 
sion, the fruit of my body for the sin of my 
soul ?" Mic. vi. 6, 7. All these are vain ; and' 
equally vain is every thing we can do and 
suffer. Nor is repentance any satisfaction for 
sin. It makes no reparation to the injured 
character and government of God ; it satisfies 
neither his holiness nor his justice ; and if sin 
could be pardoned, simply on the repentance 
of the sinner, without an atonement — with- 
out a satisfaction to justice — encouragement 
would be given to transgression, the holiness 
of God would be tarnished, his truth and his 
justice would be sacrificed. Besides, if re- 
pentance could atone for sin, salvation would 
be of works, and not of grace. Sorrow and 
tears, however needful and proper, are no 
satisfaction. Nor are prayers and religious 
duties. No strictness in these can take away 
our guilt. To depend upon them is to ruin 
our souls. To make them our dependence is 
as fatal as to neglect them altogether. We 
may bestow all our goods to feed the poor, 
and give our bodies to be burned, and yet 
perish in our sins. 1 Cor. xiii. 3. You must 
have a righteousness better than your own, or 
you are undone. Remember with whom you 
have to do, the Lord God of hosts; and 
remember who and what you are, a worm of 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 35 

tne dust, a guilty rebel in danger of hell; and 
well may you inquire, How shall I escape ? 

As God is just, eternally and immutably 
just, sin must be punished, either in the per- 
son of the sinner, or of a substitute. The 
scheme of redemption w T as not intended to 
sacrifice the justice of God to his benevolence : 
it was designed to display all his perfections, 
meet the demands of justice, and render it 
possible for God to be just, and the justifier 
of him which believeth in Jesus. Rom. iii. 
23 — 26. We need a Saviour who can satisfy 
the claims of justice, take our place, suffer in 
our stead, and bear our sins as Jesus did, in 
his own body on the tree. 2 Cor. v. 21. 
1 Pet. ii. 24. 

As God is holy, immutably and necessarily 
opposed to sin, he can accept of sinners only 
on the ground of a perfect righteousness. 
The scheme of redemption was never designed 
to lower the standard of perfection, nor to 
save sinners on the basis of an imperfect 
obedience, however sincere, or of a defective 
righteousness, however painfully wrought. 
Perfect holiness is the standard of excellence 
at which all are to aim ; and a perfect right- 
eousness is that alone on the foundation of 
which sinful men can be accepted with God. 
But who of the sons of men hath such a right- 
eousness? Not one. All are guilty. Sin 
infects us all ; and yet a perfect righteousness 
must cover our polluted souls, or we shall be 
driven away in our wickedness. How then 



36 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

Can we escape the wrath of God, and his 
character not only appear untarnished, but 
acquire additional lustre in the view of all his 
creatures, while we are received and treated 
as righteous ? 

It must ever be remembered — and hence 
it is well to repeat — that God is holy, just, 
and true ; and his holiness, truth, and justice, 
must be satisfied, or man cannot be saved. 
The sinner stands condemned and exposed; 
q, substitute must be found for him, one who 
can suffer in his room, or he himself must 
suffer for his own sins. "Die he, or justice 
must," if no substitute assume his place. 
The holiness, truth, and justice of God all de- 
mand his punishment. He is condemned by 
the law; the law calls for his execution; 
where shall a righteousness be found sufficient 
to cover his naked and guilty soul? How 
can he be saved ? 

The Bible solves this difficult question. It 
pours divine light on human destiny ; it opens 
a door of hope to the perishing. The Lord 
has found a ransom for our souls. He is 
gracious and saith, " Deliver him from going 
down to the pit: I have found a ransom." 
Job xxxiii. 24. Help is laid upon one that 
is mighty ; and one chosen out of the people 
is exalted. Ps. lxxxix. 19. Jesus is our sub- 
stitute, our representative and surety. He 
took our place. Our sins were laid upon 
him : " the Lord laid on him the iniquity of 
us all." Isa. liii. 6. He obeyed the law and 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 37 

endured its penalty for us and in our stead. 
Gal. iii. 13. " He took upon him the form 
of a servant, and was made in the likeness 
of men : and being found in fashion as a man, 
he humbled himself, and became obedient 
unto death, even the death of the cross." 
Phil. ii. 7, 8. Thus he atoned for our sins ;. 
satisfied the claims of God; honoured his 
holiness, justice, and truth ; opened the way 
of life by a true and proper satisfaction ; and 
not only made forgiveness possible, but se- 
cured eternal life to his people. God can 
now be just while he justifies and saves. 
Does God's holiness require obedience ? Jesus 
has obeyed ; 

"And in his life the law appears, 
Drawn out in living characters." 

Does justice cry for vengeance? Jesus has 
suffered. " Who is he that condemneth 1 It 
is Christ that died." Rom. viii. 34. " Surely 
he hath borne our griefs and carried our sor- 
rows : yet we did esteem him stricken, smit- 
ten of God, and afflicted. But he was 
wounded for * our transgressions, he was 
bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of 
our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes 
we are healed/' Isa. liii. 4, 5. By his obe- 
dience, sufferings, and death, he has made an 
atonement, and brought in an everlasting- 
righteousness. Dan. ix. 24. " He is the pro- 
pitiation for our sins." 1 John ii. 2. " God 
hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no 
4 



38 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

sin; that we might be made the righteous- 
ness of God in him." 2 Cor. v. 21. " He is 
the Lord our righteousness." Jer. xxiii. 6. 
His obedience and sufferings — his doing and 
dying — constitute his righteousness, the ever- 
lasting righteousness which he has wrought 
out and brought in for our salvation, and 
which is brought near in the gospel. Isa. xlvi. 
12, 13. It is called in the Scriptures the 
righteousness of God. Paul declares, " I am 
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; ... for 
therein is the righteousness of God revealed ; 
. . . even the righteousness of God, which is 
by faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all 
them that believe." Rom. i. 16, 17, and iii. 22. 
And again, " I have suffered the loss of all 
things, and do count them but dung, that I 
may win Christ, and be found in him, not 
having mine own righteousness, which is of 
the law, but that which is through the faith of 
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by 
faith." Phil. iii. 8, 0. Speaking of the Jews, 
-he says, " They have not submitted themselves 
unto the righteousness of God." Rom. x. 2, 3. 
Christ's righteousness is called the righteous- 
ness of God, because it is that righteousness 
which God has provided for our justification. 
By it his holiness and justice are satisfied* 
and in consequence of it a free offer of salva- 
tion is made to men. Through it we may 
find acceptance with God. In the work of 
Christ, " mercy and truth are met together; 
ighteousness and peace have kissed each 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 39 

other. Truth shall spring out of the earth ; 
and righteousness shall look down from hea- 
ven." Ps. lxxxv. 10, 11. Being far from 
righteousness, we need Christ's righteousness; 
and when, through the operation of the Spirit 
upon our hearts, we believe in him, his 
righteousness is imputed to us, and we are 
accounted and treated as righteous; our 
hearts being renewed, w r e are by faith for- 
given and accepted. It is by faith in Christ's 
righteousness then, that w T e are pardoned 
and justified. His righteousness is the only 
ground of pardon and of hope. It is on the 
basis of this alone that the sinner can be 
saved. " The wages of sin is death : but the 
gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus 
Christ our Lord." Rom. vi. 23. As our surety 
and substitute he has suffered in our stead ; 
God's character and government are vindica- 
ted; all his perfections are honoured; the 
door of salvation is opened ; and we are to 
receive Jesus Christ as our Saviour, and rely 
upon his righteousness, and trust in him for 
pardon and eternal life. This is the begin- 
ning of salvation ; and it is perfected in hea- 
ven, whence all sin is banished, and where 
all happiness is enjoyed — "to the praise of 
the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made 
us accepted in the Beloved ; in whom we 
have redemption through his blood, the for- 
giveness of sins, according to the riches of 
his grace." Eph. i. 6, 7. 

Thus w T e see what Jesus hcs done to save 



40 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

us. " Christ hath once suffered for sins, the 
just for the unjust, that he might bring us to 
God, being put to death in the flesh, but 
quickened by the Spirit." 1 Pet. iii. 18. He 
assumed our nature, and suffered that we 
might be delivered from suffering. He died 
that we might live. To save his people from 
their sins, he gave himself up to ignominy 
and to death. What love ! what compassion! 
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for 
us ; he died for the ungodly. Rom. v. 6 — 8. 
This is the pity of a God ! Jesus loved us, 
and gave himself for us. Eph. v. 2, 25. Had 
not he interposed, God's holiness and truth 
would have required our punishment ; his jus- 
tice would have demanded our eternal con- 
demnation. But now Jesus is our refuge, our 
hiding-place. We are safe beneath his cross. 

" God's vengeance will not strike us here, 
Nor Satan dare our souls invade." 

Jesus is the Saviour. By faith in him we 
are delivered from condemnation and wrath ; 
and he of God is made unto us wisdom, 
and righteousness, and sanctification, and re- 
demption. 1 Cor. i. 30. See in him God 
reconciled, heaven and eternal life held up to 
your view, and cast your soul upon him, say- 
ing, 

" Here, Lord, I give myself away, 
'Tis all that I can do." 

It is all that he requires. Receive him into 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 41 

your heart, and you are safe, and heaven 
with its glories shall be yours ; yours eternal 
life, eternal joy ! 

From what precedes, we infer the desira- 
bleness of salvation. We have seen our need 
of it, in what it consists, and what has been 
done to save us. Jesus came into the world 
upon this errand of mercy, and die'd on the 
cross to accomplish it. It is a salvation from 
sin, from its guilt and pollution, its power and 
punishment, and it is desirable. 

"The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleans- 
eth us from all sin." 1 John i. 7. It cleanses 
from the guilt of sin. Guilt is liability to 
punishment. To this, sin renders us obnox- 
ious. But the salvation which Jesus accom- 
plishes delivers from guilt. When we em- 
brace Christ by faith, we are no longer con- 
demned. Cl Being justified by faith, we have 
peace with God, through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." Rom. v. 1. " There is no condem- 
nation to them which are in Christ Jesus." 
Rom. viii. 1. And have you no desire to be 
delivered from condemnation ? No desire to 
be rescued from your exposure ? Think of 
your danger ; look around at your peril ; see 
the prison of despair ready to receive you ; 
and is not salvation to be desired when it 
rescues from such perils ? O could you see 
your danger as it is — could your eyes be 
opened to look upon your situation in it? true 
light — could you have a clear view of your 

4* 



42 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

guilt, I am sure you would think salvation 
desirable. 

It delivers from the pollution of sin. Sin 
vitiates, corrupts, pollutes. The blood of 
Christ cleanses from this pollution. It pro- 
cures the gift of the Holy Spirit, by whose 
influences our hearts are renewed, and the 
work of sanctification is begun and carried on 
in our souls. " Be not deceived : neither for- 
nicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor 
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with 
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunk- 
ards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall in- 
herit the kingdom of God. And such were 
some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are 
sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of 
the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." 
1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11. Again, it is written, " God 
hath from the beginning chosen you to salva- 
tion, through sanctification of the Spirit, and 
belief of the truth." 2Thess. ii. 13, 14. Think 
how odious sin makes us in the sight of God ; 
how it corrupts and pollutes all the parts of 
the body and the faculties of the soul ; how it 
debases the mind and renders it earthly, sen- 
sual, and grovelling ; and is it not desirable to 
be freed from all this pollution of sin ? Why, 
then, will you not come and wash in the foun- 
tain w 7 hich is open for sin and uncleanness ? 
Zech. xiii. 1. Are the stains of sin deep upon 
your soul ? The blood of Jesus can wash 
them all out. Look to him for purification. 
Isa. i. 18. Titus ii. 14. 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 43 

Salvation delivers from the power of sin. 
Sin has a condemning, a corrupting, and an 
enslaving power. They who commit sin 
are the servants of sin. John viii. 34. Rom. 
vi. 16. 

" How sad our state by nature is ! 

Our sin, how deep its stains ! 
And Satan binds our captive minds 

Fast in his slavish chains." 

We may boast of our freedom, but while in 
our sins, we are the veriest slaves ! 

•' He is the freeman, whom the truth makes free." 

They who are delivered from their sins, are 
the Lord's freemen. John viii. 36. 1 Cor. vii. 
22. Rom. vi. 17. They stand fast in the liber- 
ty wherewith Christ hath made them free. 
Gal. v. 1. And have you no desire for the 
liberty of the sons of God ? No desire to 
have the fetters of sin broken off, and your 
captive soul set free ? to be made an heir of 
God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ ? Rom. 
viii. 14 — 17. Jesus is the great Liberator. 
He came w to proclaim liberty to the captives, 
and the opening of the prison to them that 
are bound." Isa. lxi. 1 — 3. Would you be 
delivered from the power of sin ? Look to 
Jesus, who takes the prey from the mighty, 
and delivers the lawful captive. Isa. xlix. 24. 
He will set you free ; for where the Spirit of 
the Lord is, there is liberty. 2 Cor. iii. 12. 
Reject him, and you are bound for ever; 



44 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

your fetters will become stronger and strong- 
er, till at length you sink down in the chains 
of eternal despair. Did you never utter one 
devout acknowledgment to God for civil and 
religious liberty ? That were treason to your 
country. And will you make no effort for 
spiritual freedom ? No effort to escape from 
the dominion of sin ? Then you are lost ! 
Lost ! Who can tell the fearful import of that 
dreadful word ! Lost ! it is the ruin of the 
soul ; of every thing precious and dear ; the 
wreck of hopes, of happiness, of all we are 
and all we prize. Go, view the ruined spirits 
in the world of woe ; measure the length and 
breadth of their misery ; see in their anguish 
— and which must be yours, if you are lost — 
the desirableness of salvation, which delivers 
from the guilt, pollution, and power of sin ; 
and while you see its desirableness, seek it 
with all your heart — seek it in Jesus, who 
came to save from sin and hell, restore to 
God's favour, and exalt to heaven. For, 

Salvation delivers from hell. If saved from 
our sins, we are also saved from the punish- 
ment which they deserve. Jesus endured the 
penalty of the law, that we might be deliver- 
ed from it. If interested in him, we are res- 
cued from perdition. And surely this is 
desirable. O what would you give to be 
sure of escape from hell ? And salvation 
prepares us for usefulness and happiness 
here, as well as for rest hereafter. It fits us 
for the service of God in this world, as well 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 45 

as for his praise in the next. It teaches us 
to live to God's glory ; it enables us to die in 
peace ; so that living and dying, we are the 
Lord's, and shall be with him for ever ! Rom 
xiv. 8. 1 Thess. iv. 17. 

See, then, the goodness of God in giving 
his Son for us. It was of his own free love 
that he did it. He might have left us with 
no provision for our deliverance from sin and 
death. But he did not. " He so loved the 
world as to give his Son." John iii. 16. And 
he gave him freely. And now the offer of 
life through him is freely made. We should 
accept it. This is our duty and our privi- 
lege. We are authorized to accept it ; we 
are required to accept it ; we are bound to 
accept it ; and we refuse at the hazard of our 
souls. To reject Jesus is to reject salvation ; 
and to reject salvation is to reject Jesus. In 
either case we seal our own doom and de- 
stroy ourselves ; and the inscription on our 
eternal prison will be, — Self-destroyers ! 
Jesus came to save us from our sins; we re- 
ject him, refuse to be saved, and he will say 
unto us, " Ye would not come to me, that ye 
might have life." John v. 40. O, sinner, 
pause, think, turn ; and let your trust be in 
the Saviour of sinners ! 

" The voice of free grace cries, Escape to the mountain, 
For Adam's lost race Christ hath opened a fountain : 
For sin and transgression, and every pollution, 
His blood flows most freely in streams of salvation." 



46 THE SINNER DIRECTED 



CHAPTER III. 

IT IS A GREAT SALVATION. 

Heb. ii. 3. — How shall we escape, if we neglect so great 
salvation ? 

We are exposed and need salvation. Jesus 
has died to save us. Yet most men are very 
indifferent to the subject. They seem to care 
but little about it, and to esteem it a thing of 
no value. Judging from their estimate of it, 
as exhibited in their lives, we should think it 
a matter of no great consequence. But it is 
of vast importance ; " the one thing needful." 
Luke x. 42. 

"Religion is the chief concern 
Of mortals here below." 

" Therefore we ought to give the more 
earnest heed to the things which we have 
heard, lest at any time we should let them 
slip. For if the word spoken by angels was 
steadfast, and every transgression and disobe- 
dience received a just recompense of reward ; 
how shall we escape, if we neglect so great 
salvation; which at the first began to be 
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto 
us by them that heard him ; God aiso bearing 
them witness, both with signs and wonders, 
and with divers miracles, and gifts of the 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 47 

Holy Ghost, according to his own will?" 
Heb. li. 1—4. 

It is a great salvation. The plan of re- 
demption is a conception of infinite wisdom. 
It is too broad and deep to be the offspring of 
finite intellect. It abases man, while it honours 
and exalts Jehovah and brings glory to his 
name. It honours the law, while it spares 
the criminal. The just suffers for the unjust 
— suffers voluntarily, for he had power to lay 
down his life and to take it again. John x. 
18. The ungodly are justified ; and yet God's 
character is untarnished, and every one of his 
perfections receives new lustre and shines 
forth w T ith ever-increasing glory. Rom. iv. 5. 
2 Cor. iv. 6. The scheme of redemption is 
not a human invention, nor an angelic in- 
vention; it originated with God. The plan 
was laid by infinite wisdom; and when we 
contemplate it, we may well exclaim, " O the 
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and 
knowledge of God !" Rom. xi. 33. God is 
its author. It originated in his infinite love. 
It was because he loved us that he devised 
the way of salvation ; because he loved us 
that he gave his Son for us. John iii. 16. 
And this love was self-moved. There was 
nothing in us to call it into existence ; no good 
thing in us to move him to compassionate our 
case and provide salvation for us. It is well 
for us to remember that we had no claims ; 
that they were forfeited by sin ; and that we 
could have had no reason to complain, had no 



48 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

provision been made for our deliverance from 
wrath. But God pitied us; and he devised 
the plan by which his justice could be hon- 
oured, and yet the sinner be forgiven and 
restored to his favour. And the plan is worthy 
of its Author. The salvation partakes of the 
greatness of him who originated it; and how 
great is he ! " Canst thou by searching find 
out God? canst thou find out the Almighty 
unto perfection? It is high as heaven; what 
canst thou do ? deeper than hell ; what canst 
thou know ? The measure thereof is longer 
than the earth, and broader than the sea." 
Job xi. 7 — 9. " Great is the Lord, and greatly 
to be praised ; and his greatness is unsearcha- 
ble." Psalm cxlv. 3. " All nations before 
him are as nothing ; and they are counted to 
him less than nothing, and vanity. It is he 
that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and 
the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; 
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, 
and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell 
in," Isa. xl. 17, 22. 

The Scriptures are full in their testimony 
that the plan of salvation originated with 
God. Immediately after the fall he promised 
that the seed of the woman should bruise the 
serpent's head. Gen. iii. 15. Even before 
the creation the delights of the Son of God, as 
our Redeemer, were with the sons of men. 
Prov. viii. 22 — 31. Speaking of the cove- 
nant of redemption, Jehovah says, " I have 
made a covenant with my chosen, I have 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 49 

sworn unto David my servant, thy seed will I 
establish for ever, and build up thy throne to 
all generations. .... My covenant will I not 
break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of 

my lips His seed shall endure for ever." 

Ps. lxxxix. 3, 4, 30 — 37. Addressing the 
Son he declares, " I the Lord have called 
thee in righteousness, and will hold thy hand, 
and will keep thee, and give thee for a cove- 
nant of the people, for a light of the gentiles ; 
to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prison- 
ers from the prison, and them that sit in dark- 
ness out of the prison-house." Isa. xlii. 5 — 8, 
and xlix. 7 — 9. And again, " It is a light 
thing that thou shouldest be my servant, to 
raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the 
preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for a 
light to the gentiles, that thou mayest be my 
salvation unto the end of the earth." Isa. 
xlix. 6. " It pleased the Lord to bruise him ; 
he hath put him to grief." Isa. liii. 10 — 12. 
" God sent his Son into the w r orld." John 
iii. 17. "Whom God hath set forth to be a 
propitiation." Rom. iii. 25. " When the ful- 
ness of time w 7 as come, God sent forth his 
Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 
to redeem them that were under the law, that 
we might receive the adoption of sons." 
Gal. iv. 4, 5. w In this was manifested the 
love of God toward us, because that God sent 
his only-begotten Son into the world, that we 
might live through him. Herein is love, not 
that we loved God, but that he loved us, and 
5 



50 



THE SINNER DIRECTED 



sent his Son to be the propitiation for our 
sins." 1 John iv. 9, 10. How often is salva- 
tion ascribed to God ! and with what fre- 
quency is he spoken of as the God of salva- 
tion ! Isa. xii. 2 ; Ps. lxxix. 9. " He that is 
our God is the God of salvation; and unto 
God the Lord belong the issues from death." 
Ps. Ixviii. 19, 20. " Salvation is of the Lord." 
Jonah ii. 9. " He hath raised up a horn of 
salvation for us." Luke i. 69. And what 
more exalted conception can we form of the 
greatness of this salvation, than to think of it 
as worthy of its great Author ! O what con- 
descension, that God should stoop so low as 
to look upon us! What are we that God 
should pity us ! that he should so love us as to 
provide salvation for us ! and so great salva- 
tion ! He needs us not. He is happy without 
us. Yet his bowels of compassion have been 
moved for us ! If our hearts were not ada- 
mant, they would melt at the thought of such 
love. If they were not harder than the nether 
mill-stone, our repentings would be kindled 
together; and we would hasten to embrace 
the great salvation. 

The plan of redemption is of itself enough 
to prove the divine origin of the Bible ; for 
the book which reveals it, like the plan itself, 
must have had its origin in heaven. Both 
came from God, and like him are great. So 
Simeon felt when taking the infant Saviour in 
his arms, he said, " Lord, now lettest thou 
thy servant depart in peace, according to thy 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 51 

word; for mine eves have seen thy salva- 
tion/' Luke ii. 29," 30. 

Consider by whom salvation was purchased. 
This is no other than Jesus Christ, the Me- 
diator, the Son of man, and the Son of God ; 
" for there is one God, and one mediator 
between God and men, the man Christ Jesus ; 
who gave himself a ransom for all, to be 
testified in due time." 1 Tim. ii. 5, 6. That 
Jesus possessed a nature like ours, in which he 
obeyed and suffered, there can be no question; 
and equally unquestionable is it, that he also 
possessed a divine nature. There were in 
him both divinity and humanity. " He wrapped 
the mantle of humanity about him ; but the 
God was within." " He was, and continues 
to be, both God and man, in two distinct 
natures, and one person for ever." Thus 
saith the prophet, " Unto us a child is born, 
unto us a son is given ; and the government 
shall be upon his shoulder; and his name 
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The 
Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The 
Prince of Peace." Isa. ix. 6. He is Im- 
manuel — God with us. Isa. vii. 14. Though 
he came in the flesh, he is over all, God 
blessed for ever — " the brightness of the Fa- 
ther's glory and the express image of his 
person." Rom. ix. 5 ; Heb. i. 3. " In whom 
we have redemption through his blood, even 
the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of 
the invisible God, the first-born of every 
creature : for by him were all things created, 



52 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones 
or dominions, or principalities, or powers : all 
things were created by him, and for him : 
and he is before all things, and by him all 
things consist, and he is the head of the body, 
the church : who is the beginning, the first- 
born from the dead ; that in all things he 
might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased 
the Father that in him should all fulness 
dwell ; and, having made peace through the 
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all 
things unto himself." Col. i. 14—20. We 
have, then, a divine Redeemer. There is not 
only human sympathy in his heart, but divine 
compassion; and in his arm is omnipotent 
strength. They who repose in him are safe. 
And surely it must be a great salvation which 
required a divine Redeemer to accomplish. 
This was needful. He must be God to re- 
deem as well as man to die. None but he 
could bear infinite wrath. None but he could 
obey and suffer in the stead of others. No 
mere creature could make atonement, for 
God has claims upon every creature for all 
the obedience it can render, and no sufferings 
of a mere finite creature, for any limited 
duration, can be a full satisfaction to the 
justice of God, The Mediator must be divine, 
that he might bring in a righteousness that 
could avail to our justification. And being 
divine, his atonement, though made with 
special reference to his own, is of infinite 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 53 

value, for his divinity gives dignity and worth 
to his sufferings and death. Its merits can 
never be estimated. It is sufficient for the 
world, for every sinner and every degree of 
guilt. It is true that Jesus was a man of 
sorrows, " for the Word was made flesh, and 
dwelt among us;" John i. 14; but it is also 
true that he is the infinite God, for the Word 
was God. John i. 1. He is both the root 
and the offspring of David, David's son, and 
David's Lord. Rev. xxii. 16. Matt. xxii. 
42 — 45. And the work which he accom- 
plished is worthy of himself — a great salva- 
tion. His atonement is not measured by the 
limited capacities of his human nature, but by 
the infinitude of the divine. 

Then how great the price paid for our sal- 
vation! Among men, the price paid is not 
always a fair criterion of value. They may 
err in judgment, or be deceived. But here 
the price was fixed by infinite wisdom ; and 
it has been paid. And what is the price? 
Not the obedience, nor the sufferings of a 
creature; nothing less than the blood of the 
Son of God. " Without shedding of blood is 
no remission." Heb. ix. 22. And the blood 
shed must be precious, that it might make 
atonement and satisfy for our sins. It is the 
blood of Jehovah's fellow, his equal ; the blood 
of " God manifest in the flesh." Zech. xiii. 7. 
John x. 30. 1 Tim. iii. 16. "Ye are not 
your own ; for ye are bought with a price." 
1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. " Ye were not redeemed 
5* 



54 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

with corruptible things, as silver and gold, 
from your vain conversation received by 
tradition from your fathers ; but with the 
precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without 
blemish and without spot: who verily was 
foreordained before the foundation of the 
world, but was manifest in these last times 
for you." 1 Pet. i. 18—20. We read in 
Acts xx. 28, of the Church of God, which he 
hath purchased with his own blood. The 
divine nature did not suffer ; but in virtue of 
the union subsisting between the divine and 
human natures in the person of Christ, the 
acts and properties of the one are attributed 
to the other : for he took our nature into per- 
sonal union with his divinity, and while his 
human nature alone suffered, his divine nature 
sustained his humanity in both his active and 
passive obedience, and rendered his work 
acceptable to God and available for us. 
Hence it is written, " In whom we have 
redemption through his blood, the forgiveness 
of sins, according to the riches of his grace." 
Eph. i. 7. " Christ hath loved us, and hath 
given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice 
to God for a sweet-smelling savour." Eph. 
v. 2. " Christ died for our sins according to 
the Scriptures." 1 Cor. xv. 3. " Through 
the eternal Spirit he offered himself without 
spot to God." Heb. ix. 13, 14. "Now once 
in the end of the world hath he appeared to 
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 55 

but after this the judgment, so Christ was 
once offered to bear the sins of many/' Heb. 
ix. 25 — 28. " Having therefore, brethren, 
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood 
of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he 
hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that 
is to say, his flesh ; and having a high priest 
over the house of God; let us draw near with 
a true heart." Heb. x. 19—22. Here, then, 
is the price of our redemption — the blood — 
the life of Jesus. And must Jesus die to save 
us? Must God's own Son be delivered up to 
death? Is this the price he must pay to 
redeem us ? And can men slight the mercy 
so dearly purchased ? Can they lightly esteem 
it? Reader, can you thus treat the blood of 
the Son of God ? Did he estimate your salva- 
tion so highly as to die to secure it, and will 
you cast it away as a thing of nought ? 

As he w 7 ho purchased redemption is divine, 
so is the Spirit who applies it. All the per- 
sons in the adorable Trinity bear their ap- 
propriate part in the great work of human 
redemption. The covenant of works, made 
with Adam as our federal head, was broken, 
and we were ruined by his fall. Jesus is our 
representative and surety in the covenant of 
grace. He obeyed and died for us ; and he 
purchased for us the Spirit to apply to us the 
benefits of the new covenant. And the work 
of the Spirit is no less needful than the work 
of Christ. Regeneration is as necessary as 
an atonement. And this work is so great, 



56 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

the change is so entire, that it is called a new 
creation. Christians are the workmanship 
of God, " created in Christ Jesus unto good 
works." Eph. ii. 10. The power exerted in 
this new creation is compared to the power 
by which Christ was raised from the dead : 
6i The eyes of your understanding being en- 
lightened ; that ye may know what is the 
hope of his calling, and what the riches of 
the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and 
what is the exceeding greatness of his power 
to us-ward who believe, according to the 
working of his mighty power, which he 
wrought in Christ, when he raised him from 
the dead, and set him at his own right hand 
in the heavenly places." Eph. i. 18 — 20. That 
it is the Spirit which applies to us the pur- 
chased redemption, read what the Scripture 
saith: "And you hath he quickened, who 
were dead in trespasses and sins. . . . For by 
grace are ye saved, through faith ; and that 
not of yourselves: it is the gift of God." Eph. 
ii. 1,8. And Jehovah promises, ' A new 
heart also will I give you, and a new spirit 
will I put within you : and I will take away 
the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will 
give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my 
Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in 
my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments 
and do them." Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. The Sa- 
viour said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be 
born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot 
enter into the kingdom of God ;" and, " Ye 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 57 

must be born again." John iii. 3 — 8. To his 
sorrowing disciples he said, " It is expedient 
for you that I go away : for if I go not away, 
the Comforter will not come unto you; but 
if I depart, I will send him unto you. And 
when he is come, he will reprove the world 
of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 
of sin, because they believe not on me ; of 
righteousness, because I go to my Father, 
and ye see me no more ; of judgment, be- 
cause the prince of this world is judged. I 
have many things to say unto you, but ye 
cannot bear them now. Howbeit, when he, 
the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you 
into all truth : for he shall not speak of him- 
self; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall 
he speak : and he will show you things to 
come. He shall glorify me : for he shall re- 
ceive of mine, and shall show it unto you. 
All things that the Father hath are mine: 
therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, 
and shall show it unto you." John xvi. 7 — 15. 
It is the Spirit that renews our hearts ; he 
works faith in us ; he "unites us to Christ in 
our effectual calling ;" he carries on the work 
of sanctification until the day of Christ. 
Phil. i. 6. Hence David prays, " Create in 
me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right 
spirit within me. Cast me not away from 
thy presence ; and take not thy Holy Spirit 
from me." Ps. li. 10, 11. And the Spirit is 
divine. The Holy Ghost is God. Thus it 
was said to Ananias, " Why hath Satan filled 



58 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

thy heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? Thou 
hast not lied unto men, but unto God." Acts 
v. 3, 4. He is eternal, omniscient, omnipo- 
tent, and omnipresent. He is possessed of 
all divine perfections; and that salvation in 
which he bears so conspicuous a part, must 
be a great salvation. That in which all the 
persons of the blessed Trinity are so deeply 
interested cannot be a trifle. What the 
Father planned, and the Son executed, and 
the Spirit applies, must be worthy of the God- 
head, and partake of the greatness of its 
divine origin. 

It is a great salvation too, because of the 
change it effects in us. Our condition by na- 
ture was shown in the first chapter. We 
are sinful, exposed, and without hope. Salva- 
tion effects a change in all these respects. It 
changes our character. If interested by 
faith in the great salvation, our natures are 
changed, and we are made new creatures in 
Christ Jesus. 2 Cor. v. 17. From enemies of 
God we are converted into friends. Once we 
delighted in rebellion against him, now we 
delight in his service. We love his word ; 
love the ordinances of his house; love his 
people ; renounce ourselves ; trust in his Son ; 
and esteem it our greatest privilege to hold 
communion with him, to draw near to him 
in prayer, and to sing his praise. Once we 
were blind, now we see ; once we were dead, 
now we are alive ; we love what we once 
hatedj and hate what we once loved. John ix. 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 59 

25 ; Rom. vi. 4, and vii. 15—22. " Old things 
are passed away, all things are become new." 
2 Cor. v. 17. Here is a great change — a 
complete revolution — in character. Sinners 
have become saints. Nor does salvation 
produce a less change in our relations. 
Sanctification changes our character ; justifi- 
cation changes our state. By nature we 
stand to the law in the relation of condemned 
criminals. If interested in the great salva- 
tion, we are no longer condemned. We are 
accounted righteous ; we are treated as inno- 
cent. It is not a bare reprieve, it is a perfect 
justification ; it entitles to the rewards of in- 
nocency, because our Surety has answered 
the demands against us. Here is a great 
change in our state. Before, we were con- 
demned ; now we are justified, and have a 
title to eternal life ; yea, we are adopted into 
the family of God, and are heirs of heaven. 
John i. 12, 13. Rom. viii. 17. Hence, there 
is a great change in our prospects. What is 
the prospect of the sinner? Death, eternal 
death ! What is the prospect of those who 
have a part in this salvation ? Life, eternal 
life ! The one is an heir of hell ; the other 
an heir of heaven. Look, then, at the change 
which this salvation effects in our character, 
our state, and our prospects, and in view of 
this change, measure, if you can, its greatness. 
O, it is a great salvation, and considered only 
in its relation to ourselves, it is above all esti- 
mate, above all price ! 



60 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

Consider the misery from which it saves 
us. " The way of transgressors is hard." 
Prov. xiii. 15. " The wicked are like the 
troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose 
waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no 
peace, saith my God, to the wicked." Isa. 
Ivii. 20, 21. Their consciences are ill at ease. 
Sin brings misery to the sinner, as it 

" Brought death into the world, and all our woe." 

By that change which this salvation effects, 
peace is restored to the soul. " The fruit of 
the Spirit is love, joy, peace." Gal. v. 22. 
" Great peace have they who love God's 
law." Psalm cxix. 165. "Come unto me, 
and I will give you rest," says Jesus. Matt, 
xi. 28. " Godliness is profitable unto all 
things, having promise of the life that now 
is, and of that which is to come." 1 Tim. 
iv. 8. " For the Lord God is a sun and 
shield : the Lord will give grace and glory ; 
no good thing will he withhold from them 
that walk uprightly." Psalm lxxxiv. 11. 
The godly are saved from many evils in this 
world. They have a quiet conscience. They 
are freed from all the misery which results 
from a sense of unforgiven sin. And then 
they are rescued from all the miseries which 
the wicked must suffer in the world to come. 
There the lost writhe in eternal anguish, for 
ever dying, and yet forbid to die ; for ever 
seeking death, yet death for ever fleeing from 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 61 

them. Hell ! hell ! what horrors lie in that 
single word! Hell, a dwelling-place for 
eternity ! O who does not, terror-stricken, 
shrink from the thought ? What then must 
be the dread reality? From this, salvation 
delivers us. Think of it, and confess it a 
great salvation. 

And consider the happiness to which it 
raises us. " Say ye to the righteous that it 
shall be well with him." Isa. iii. 10. It is 
w r ell in this world. His sins are blotted out, 
and shall never be brought against him to his 
condemnation. Psalm xxxii. 1, 2. Rom. iv. 
6 — 8. He has peace with God and peace 
within. His " fellowship is with the Father, 
and with his Son Jesus Christ." 1 John i. 3. 
He may not be without seasons of trial and 
sorrow ; he may know what sore temptations 
mean, and may even walk in darkness and 
see no light for a season ; yet there are times 
when he can " rejoice with joy unspeakable 
and full of glory." 1 Pet. i. 6 — 9. Were there 
no future state of existence, he would still be 
a gainer by his religion. His happiness in this 
w r orld far outweighs the carnal joys of the 
wicked. And when death comes, he enters 
into the joy of his Lord, the full fruition of 
heavenly glory. That is happiness which eye 
hath not seen, which ear hath not heard, which 
the heart of man hath never conceived. 1 Cor. 
ii. 9. O the glories of that upper world ! 
There are the angelic hosts ; there the army 
of the redeemed ; there the blessed Redeemer 
6 



62 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

the Lamb of God, the Saviour of sinners ! 
What a company! What songs are there! 
What everlasting triumphs ! What a great 
salvation to be delivered from hell and raised 
to heaven ! O what a wonder that they who 
deserved the deepest perdition should be raised 
to the highest glory ! This indeed is a mira- 
cle of mercy. " Behold, God is my salvation ; 
I will trust, and not be afraid : for the Lord 
Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also 
is become my salvation. Therefore with joy 
shall ye draw water out of the wells of salva- 
tion." Isa. xii. 2, 3. 

This salvation is great, because it is eter- 
nal. Thus it is written : " Israel shall be 
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salva- 
tion." Isa. xlv. 17. Jesus is " the author of 
eternal salvation unto all them that obey 
him." Heb. v. 9. He "gives unto them 
eternal life." John x. 28. Hence he de- 
clares, " He that believeth on me hath ever- 
lasting life." John vi. 47. 

And it must be a great salvation, because 
the angels take such an interest in it. The 
angels that sinned were left without salvation. 
No Saviour died for them. Heb. ii. 16. 2 
Pet. ii. 4. That God should pity men and not 
angels ; that he should give his Son for man, 
and leave the fallen angels in their guilt and 
ruin, excites the wonder and admiration of 
those angels which kept their first estate. 1 
Pet. i. 12. They have ever manifested the 
deepest interest in the scheme of redemption. 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 63 

They were sent to tell of the coming Saviour. 
Matt. i. 20, 21. They announced his advent; 
witnessed his baptism ; were present at his 
temptation; ministered to his wants; strength- 
ened him in his agony ; stood by him in his 
crucifixion; watched his grave; announced 
his resurrection ; were present when he as- 
cended ; welcomed him to his glory : God 
manifest in the flesh was seen of angels. 1 
Tim. hi. 16. Luke ii. 9—11. Matt. iii. 16, 17, 
and iv. 11. Luke xxii. 43. Matt, xxviii. 2, 
3, 5, 6. Acts i. 10, 11. Psalm xxiv. 7—10. 
They are now his messengers, ministering to 
the heirs of salvation, strengthening them in 
trouble, and delivering them from danger, as 
they did Peter from prison, and Paul from the 
perils of shipwreck. Heb. i. 14. Acts xii. 11, 
and xxvii. 23, 24. Yea, they are present in 
our worshipping assemblies — we must demean 
ourselves properly because of the angels; and 
they wait to rejoice over repenting sinners, 
and convey the joyful tidings to heaven. 1 
Cor. xi. 10. Luke xv. 10. And is it not a 
great salvation when the angels manifest so 
deep an interest in it 1 He is great who 
planned it ; he is great who bought it ; great 
is the price paid for it; great is the Spirit 
who applies it ; it effects a great change in 
those who are saved by it; delivers from 
great misery ; exalts to great happiness ; and 
interests greatly the bright spirits of heaven. 
It is a great salvation — eternal salvation. 
Then, reader, this salvation is worthy of 



64 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

your acceptance. It certainly is not beneath 
your notice. What interests all heaven, and 
all hell too, should certainly interest you — 
should interest all men. When heaven and 
hell are moved, the earth should not be indif- 
ferent. The salvation which is worthy the 
attention of angels — which indeed is worthy 
of God its great Author — is certainly worthy 
of your attention — it is worthy of all accepta- 
tion. It is so because of the expense at which 
it has been provided. The Son of God must 
come from heaven, assume our nature, die in 
our stead, to open the way of life. A rich 
feast has been made, and made at an infinite 
expense. What is freely offered you, and 
what you may have by accepting, cost the 
agony, the blood, the life of Jesus Christ ! O 
think of this price ; and is not salvation thus 
purchased worthy your regard? And can 
you slight it? Can you lightly esteem the 
price of your redemption ? Will you count the 
blood of the covenant an unholy thing ? Heb. 
x. 28. Whatever else you do, I beseech you 
not to trifle with this salvation. When invited 
to the cross, do not begin to make light of it. 
Matt. xxii. 5. It is worthy your acceptance 
because of the prospects it opens before you. 
You are dying ; it reveals the way of life. It 
sets before you the glories of the heavenly 
world, an unfading crown, never-failing rich- 
es, immortal songs, eternal rest and joy. It 
teaches you how to obtain the victory over 
death and the grave. And does it not here 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 65 

meet a want of your nature ? Are you pre- 
pared to grapple with the king of terrors'? 
Were the summons for your departure to 
come now, could you welcome it ? Are you 
prepared to go ? Could you die in peace ? 
Are you prepared for heaven? Not if this 
salvation is still neglected. Let the prospects 
it reveals command your immediate accept- 
ance. There is no escape if you neglect it. 
There is no other salvation; there never will 
be any other salvation. There is no other 
probation ; there never will be any other pro- 
bation. Neglect this salvation, and you con- 
tinue exposed till death comes, and then you 
are lost ! No Saviour will be offered you in 
the future world ; no salvation will there be 
proclaimed ; no message of peace can there 
be heard or read ; you are then beyond the 
reach of hope and mercy — lost, for ever lost ! 
O flee to the cross ! Delay not, for death is 
near ! 

" Soon, borne on time's most rapid wing, 
Shall death command you to the grave ; 

Before his bar your spirit bring, 
And none be found to hear or save. 

In that lone land of deep despair, 

No Sabbath's heavenly light shall rise ; 

No God regard your bitter prayer, 
No Saviour call you to the skies." 



c* 



66 THE SINNER DIRECTED 



CHAPTER IV. 

SALVATION IS BROUGHT NEAR. 

Isaiah lvi. 1. — Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, 
and do justice ; for my salvation is near to come, and 
my righteousness to be revealed. 

Isaiah li. 5. — My righteousness is near ; my salvation is 
gone forth. 

When John the Baptist came preaching in the 
wilderness of Judea, he said, " Repent ye ; for 
the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. iii. 
1, 2. And when the Lord Jesus began to 
preach, he too delivered the same sermon. 
Matt. iv. 17. The truths of the gospel will 
bear repetition. The salvation of which it 
speaks, is great, and worthy of our accept- 
ance. But this would not avail, if we could 
never obtain it. It is not far off. It is brought 
near unto us. It is placed, as it were, within 
our reach ; and we have but to stretch forth 
our hand and grasp the prize. 

Salvation is brought near in the Scriptures. 
" I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," 
saith Paul, " for therein is the righteousness 
of God revealed," — the righteousness pro- 
vided for our salvation. Rom. i. 16, 17. The 
light of nature teaches that we are sinners. 
God is perfect ; so must his works be ; and 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 67 

man came perfect from his hands. But he 
is now full of imperfection and of sin. How 
may sin be forgiven ? On this point the book 
of nature is silent. It has not a line of a Sa- 
viour ; it speaks not a word of Jesus. It is in 
the Bible, and in the Bible alone, that we read 
of forgiveness with God. " With him is plen- 
teous redemption." Ps. cxxx. 4, 7. The Bible 
reveals the way of life. It makes plain the 
scheme of mercy. It tells us of our exposure. 
It reveals to us what has been done to save 
us. It speaks of Jesus — 

" Jesus, the name that calms our fears, 
That bids our sorrows cease." 

It brings good tidings of great joy ; it pro- 
claims a Saviour, Christ the Lord — Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified. Luke ii. 10, 11. 
1 Cor. ii. 2. You have the Bible. It is in 
your dwelling and in your hands. You may 
read it daily. And whenever you read, sal- 
vation comes near. How often have you 
read ! And when you have read the sacred 
page, or heard it read, God has brought nigh 
to you the salvation of his Son. Yea, even 
if you refuse to read, the fact that the Bible 
is in your house, is proof that salvation is 
near. " Search the Scriptures," saith Jesus, 
" for in them ye think ye have eternal life ; 
and they are they which testify of me." John 
v. 39. The Bible neglected is salvation neg- 
lected; the Bible unread is the ruin of the 
soul. 0, how many Bibles will witness to 



68 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

the everlasting condemnation of their owners 
in the great day ! Reader, will not yo.ur Bible 
be among the number? However men may 
swear falsely on the Bible in courts of justice, 
the Bible itself will never be a false witness 
at the bar of God. It is the truth of its testi- 
mony which you will have reason to fear, be- 
cause you have not given heed to the great 
salvation which it has brought near to you, 
and urged upon your acceptance. 

Salvation is brought nigh in a preached 
gospel, and in the ordinances of the Christian 
church. " Moses describeth the righteousness 
which is of the law, that the man which 
doeth those things shall live by them. But 
the righteousness which is of faith, speaketh 
on this wise, Say not in thy heart, Who shall 
ascend into heaven ? (that is, to bring Christ 
down from above;) or, Who shall descend 
into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ 
again from the dead.) But what saith it? 
The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth 
and in thy heart ; that is, the word of faith, 
which we preach : that if thou shalt confess 
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt be- 
lieve in thy heart that God hath raised him 
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with 
the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; 
and with the mouth, confession is made unto 
salvation." Rom. x. 5 — 10. To preach the 
gospel is to preach the Lord Jesus as an 
atoning, an all-sufficient and the only Saviour. 
It is to preach our ruin by the fall, and our 



IN THE WAY OP LIFE. 69 

redemption by Christ. It is to preach salva- 
tion, a free salvation, through the death of 
Jesus. This is the commission he gave, — 
" Go ye into all the world and preach the 
gospel to every creature." Mark xvi. 15. He 
also said, " Thus it is written, and thus it be- 
hoved Christ to suffer and to rise from the 
dead the third day; and that repentance and 
remission of sins should be preached in his 
name among all nations, beginning at Jerusa- 
lem." Luke xxiv. 46, 47. The design of 
preaching — and of this volume — is to con- 
vince you of your sin ? and misery, and dan- 
ger, and lead you to Christ for pardon and 
eternal life. We try to be instrumental in 
your salvation. We pray the word may be 
to you " the savour of life unto life, and not of 
death unto death." 2 Cor. ii. 16. Whenever 
you hear the gospel preached, you are re- 
minded of your sinfulness and pointed to the 
Lamb of God. Ours is an errand of mercy. 
We bring you a message of life ; and what- 
ever may be the reception you give our mes- 
sage, we may say with all earnestness — " Be 
ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is 
come nigh unto you. Luke x. 9 — 11. You 
may say, "As for the word that thou hast 
spoken unto us in the name of the Lord, we 
will not hearken unto thee." Jer. xliv. 16. Yet 
still it brings salvation nigh ; and if you put it 
from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of 
everlasting life, (Acts x. 46,) we may pity 
you, but we cannot help it. When we have 



70 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

delivered the message and committed it to 
God in prayer, our work is done; it is for 
you to receive or reject it. Yet it brings the 
blessing near ; for Jehovah says, " My salva- 
tion is near to come ;" yea, my salvation is 
gone forth in the gospel message. 

Nor is it from the pulpit alone that the 
news of salvation reaches you. You hear it 
in the warnings and exhortations of Christian 
friends ; you read it on the printed page, in 
the evangelic volume and the religious tract. 
These have come to you as leaves from the 
tree of life. They have spoken in terror and 
in love. They have alarmed and melted; 
drawn forth the sigh and the tear ; spoken of 
hell, of heaven, of the cross, and brought sal- 
vation to your very heart. Again in this lit- 
tle book you read the words of life, and have 
the offer of salvation repeated ; and if you 
perish, it will not be because you are ignorant 
of the way of life. 

Salvation is also brought near in the ordi- 
nances of the Christian church. In baptism, 
regeneration is signified ; and it also seals our 
ingrafting into Christ and our adoption into 
the family of God. In the Lord's Supper we 
see the emblems of the Saviour's broken body 
and shed blood. We are here reminded of 
our sinfulness, of the great sacrifice for sin, 
and of the necessity of faith in order to salva- 
tion. Christ our passover is sacrificed for us ; 
therefore we keep the feast. 1 Cor. v. 7, 8. 
With the emblems, bread and wine, before us, 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 71 

we seem to hear the Saviour saying, " Except 
ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink 
his blood, ye have no life in you." John vi. 
53. And while they remind us of the price 
paid for our redemption; they also serve to 
bring salvation nigh. They have a voice 
which speaks to the heart, an eloquence 
which might move and melt an adamant. 

Salvation is brought near in the offers and 
invitations of the gospel. Jesus not only of- 
fered himself on the cross for sin, but he also 
offers himself to sinners. He makes a free 
offer of himself to all who hear the gospel, 
and to all who read it. He offers to be their 
prophet, priest and king ; their Redeemer and 
Saviour. He said to Zaccheus, M This day is 
salvation come to this house." Luke xix. 9. 
So in every offer he makes of himself to you, 
he says, " This day is salvation come to 
you." Yes, it comes in the person of the 
blessed Jesus, who saith, '• Behold, I stand at 
the door and knock: if any man hear my 
voice, and open the door, I will come in to 
him, and will sup with him, and he with me." 
Rev. iii. 20. And how full, and free, and pre- 
cious, are the invitations of the gospel ! " Ho, 
every one that thirsteth, come ye to the wa- 
ters, and he that hath no money : come ye, 
buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk 
without money, and without price. Where- 
fore do ye spend money for that which is not 
bread? and your labour for that which satis- 
fied not ? hearken diligently unto me, and eat 



72 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

ye that which is good, and let your soul de- 
light itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and 
come unto me : hear, and your soul shall live 
and I will make an everlasting covenant with 
you, even the sure mercies of David." Isa. 
lv. 1 — 3. " If any man thirst, let him come 
unto me, and drink." John vii. 37. " And the 
Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him 
that heareth say, Come. — And whosoever 
will, let him take the water of life freely." 
Rev. xxii. 17. "Come unto me, all ye that 
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and 
learn of me : for I am meek and lowly in 
heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 
Matt. xi. 28—30. These are some of Christ's 
gracious invitations. How sweet their charm- 
ing sound ! How often have you heard them ! 
And as often has salvation been brought to 
your very door — to your inmost soul — and 
you have had the privilege of accepting or 
rejecting it. Yea, you have accepted or 
rejected it ! And at this very moment, when 
the offer is again made, and the invitation 
again given, you must, and you do, either 
accept or reject it ! " Behold, now is the 
accepted time; behold, now is the day of 
salvation." 2 Cor. vi. 2. " O that you were 
wise, that you understood this, that you would 
consider your latter end." Deut. xxxii. 29. 

Salvation is brought near by the strivings 
of the Spirit. The word of God does not 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. / 3 

always go alone. Sometimes it is heard with 
indifference; at others with deep and tender 
interest. Why is this but because the Spirit, 
who is a sovereign, and moves when and 
where he pleases, does, at times, prepare the 
heart to receive the truth, and accompany the 
truth with power to the heart 1 Thus Paul 
declares to the Corinthians, — u For I deter- 
mined not to know any thing among you. 
save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I 
was with you in weakness, and in fear, and 
in much trembling. And my speech and my 
preaching was not with enticing words of 
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the 
Spirit, and of power ; that your faith should 
not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the 
power of God." 1 Cor. ii. 2 — 5. It is the 
Spirit that gives efficacy to the truth, and 
makes it the power of God and the wisdom 
of God to the salvation of souls. 1 Cor. i. 18, 
24. And have you never felt him operating 
upon your heart ? Have you not had times 
of unusual seriousness ? Ah, you have been 
convinced of sin, and of righteousness, and 
of judgment. John xvi. 8. The truth has often 
come home to you with unwonted power ; 
you have thought of your soul, of the Saviour, 
and of the judgment : it was the Spirit bring- 
ing salvation near, and convincing you of 
your need of it ! Even now you may feel his 
influences. O, resist him not. Grieve him 
not awav. He comes to bring salvation to 
7 



74 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

you, to woo you to the cross, to renew your 
heart and save your soul. 

Salvation is brought nigh when the gospel 
message meets our eyes or reaches our ears. 
It is written, — "Blessed is the people that 
know the joyful sound." Psalm lxxxix. 15. 
And the Saviour said, " Blessed are your 
eyes, for they see ; and your ears, for they 
hear." Matt. xiii. 16. The gospel is glad 
tidings of salvation. How often have you 
heard these tidings ! Sabbath after Sabbath 
you have heard. You have heard from the 
ministers of Christ; by the admonition of 
friends; from the Bible and the tract; and 
now again you hear. This book speaks in 
the name of the Lord. Its message is to you. 
It brings salvation. O, how near is it brought ! 
Choose this day whom you will serve. Re- 
solve with Joshua, "As for me and my house, 
we will serve the Lord." Joshua xxiv. 15. 

Salvation is brought near when the word 
enters into our understandings. The gospel 
is so plain, the way of life is so clearly 
revealed, u that the wayfaring men, though 
fools, shall not err therein." Isa. xxxv. 8. 
" He may run that readeth it." Hab. ii. 2. 
Yet we may hear the gospel, or read it, and 
not understand it. And if when we hear, or 
read, salvation is brought near, it is brought 
still nearer when we understand the word. 
And has not the word entered into your 
understanding 1 Are you not acquainted with 
your danger as a sinner ? Do you not know 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 75 

what has been done to save you? And do 
you not know what you must do to be saved ! 
O how many have a perfect understanding 
of the gospel, and yet neglect the great salva 
tion! And their doom may be'written, 

" Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not ! 
Ye knew your duty, but ye did it not ! 
These are the words to which the harps of grief 
Are strung ; and, to the chorus of the damned, 
The rocks of hell repeat them, evermore ; 
Loud echoed through the caverns of despair, 
And poured in thunder on the ear of woe." 

Salvation is brought near when the word 
reaches the conscience. It may be read, or 
heard, and understood, and yet the conscience 
be undisturbed. Sin stupefies the conscience ; 
it often sleeps when it should be awake. But 
there are times when the word enters the 
conscience; the sinner is convinced of his 
sins, and the word is fulfilled, — " I will reprove 
thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.'" 
Psalm 1. 21. By whatever means conscience 
is aroused to do its office, w 7 hen the sinner 
feels its reproofs, salvation is then brought 
near, for then he feels his need of deliverance 
from sin and wrath. These checks and re- 
proofs admonish of coming punishment; they 
point to the wrath to come, and show the 
sinner his need of the Saviour. How often 
have you felt reproved and condemned by 
your own conscience ! It may have been 
in the hour of retirement, upon your bed in 



76 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

the silence of the night, or when you have 
read the Bible, or stood by the grave of 
a friend, or when listening to the word of 
God, or when lying upon a sick bed, or when 
reading some tract or volume; — and it may 
be that even now conscience admonishes you 
of neglected duty, 

" Points you to the coming wrath ; 
And warns you from that wrath to flee ;" — 

and then how near is salvation to you ! The 
word is not only in your mouth, it is in your 
very soul ; you feel its power there ; it ren- 
ders you ill at ease in your sins, and points 
you to the only way of peace and safety. 
Yes, reader, salvation is near to you. An 
all-sufficient righteousness is offered for your 
justification. A divine Redeemer invites you 
to his bosom ; and your own conscience cries, 
" Escape for thy life ; look not behind thee, 
neither stay thou in all the plain : escape to 
the mountain, lest thou be consumed." Gen. 
xix. 17. 

Salvation is brought near when the word 
enters the heart and makes some impression 
there. Not only may the conscience be 
aroused to do its office, but the judgment may 
be convinced and the affections moved and 
excited. Men may be, and they often are, 
deeply impressed by the truth and Spirit of 
God. They may feel that they ought at once 
to close with Christ and become his followers. 
They may be almost persuaded to become 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 77 

Christians. Acts xxvi. 28. And have there 
not been periods in your history when this 
might have been affirmed of you? Have 
there not been times when you were seriously 
impressed, and when you were on the very- 
point of deciding for God ; on the very point 
of surrendering yourself to Jesus Christ, and 
choosing that good part which shall not be 
taken away? Luke x. 42. How near was 
salvation then ! You were at the very gate 
of heaven ! A little more, and you would 
have entered ; a little more, and eternal life 
would have been yours ! O, that little more ! 
If you are lost, how bitter will be the reflec- 
tion, that you went almost to Jesus, but not 
quite ! almost to heaven, but not quite ! O 
reader, your soul, your precious soul, shall it 
be lost? Lost, when salvation is so near! 
Lost, with a bleeding Saviour offered to you ! 
Lost, with the blessed Spirit striving with 
your heart, and when almost persuaded to be 
a Christian ! O close with Christ now, and 
the place where you are will be to you the 
house of God not only, but the very gate of 
heaven ! Gen. xxviii. 17. Salvation is near 
to you now ; but by and by it will be as far 
from you as heaven is from hell. Soon there 
may be an impassable gulf between you and 
salvation ; and you may look for salvation, 
but it will be far off from you. Isa. lix. 11. 
O then accept it now when it is near ! 

Let me admonish you that the Bible, and 
the religious book and tract, should be read, 
7* 



78 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

and the gospel heard, with seriousness and 
prayer. They bring life and immortality to 
light. They speak of the great salvation. It 
becomes us to be serious and prayerful when 
things of so great moment are brought before 
us. " Keep thy foot when thou goest to the 
house of God, and be more ready to hear than 
to give the sacrifice of fools." Eccl. v. 1. 
" Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves 
together, as the manner of some is ; but ex- 
horting one another ; and so much the more, 
as ye see the day approaching." Heb. x. 25. 
The day of death is approaching, and the day 
of judgment, and how can we be prepared to 
meet them, while neglecting the worship of 
God, or hearing the word with indifference, 
or treating the printed page with neglect ? It 
is a solemn thing to live in the circumstances 
in which God has placed us. It is, as all 
admit, a solemn thing to die ; but it is no less 
solemn to live, for we live to die, and our 
death will be as our life is. This is a state 
of trial. Means of grace are enjoyed ; sal- 
vation is provided and brought near ; we are 
surrounded by religious appliances ; God has 
given us precept upon precept, and line upon 
line. Isa. xxviii. 10; monitory lessons are 
taught us on every hand ; and every step we 
take is big with character and with destiny. 
Yet how carelessly we live ! We sport on 
the brink of the grave and of eternity. God 
speaks, but we refuse to listen; the Saviour 
calls, but we will not hear ; the Spirit strives, 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 79 

but we will not yield to his influences ; salva- 
tion is brought near, offered to us, pressed 
upon us, but we care not for it. We should 
accept the proffered mercy; we should re- 
ceive the gift of eternal life ; but we do not, 
we will not. We choose the broad road 
which leads to death, and perish because we 
will; for if we reject that which is brought 
so nigh, it will very soon be far removed from 
us, and we shall lament our folly when it is 
too late. " In the latter days ye shall con- 
sider it perfectly." Jer. xxiii. 20. How much 
better to think now, and turn to God and live ! 
Why has salvation been provided 1 Why is 
it offered 1 Why brought near and urged 
upon you, but that you might be saved ? O 
make it your business now to seek salvation ! 
" Seek first the kingdom of God, and his 
righteousness." Matt. vi. 33. 



SO THE SINNER DIRECTED 



CHAPTER V. 

HOW TO OBTAIN SALVATION. 

Acts xvi. 29-32. — Then he called for a light, and sprang 
in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and 
Silas ; and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must 
I do to be saved ? And they said, Believe on the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. 
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord. 

We are sinners; we need salvation. Jesus 
has died ; the offer of life is freely made to us 
through him. Salvation is brought nigh unto 
us. You have heard and read the word. It 
has entered into your understanding; your 
conscience is aroused ; your heart impressed ; 
and you are so far persuaded of your duty 
and your necessities, as to inquire how you 
may secure the great salvation, or become 
interested in it. You are inquiring with Job, 
" How should man be just with God ?" Job 
ix. 2 ; and with the Philippian jailer, " What 
must I do to be saved ?" 

This question implies an awakened atten- 
tion to the subject. It is possible, indeed, for 
one to inquire about the way of life, and ask 
what he must do to be saved, merely to gra- 
tify his curiosity. But no one will make this 
inquiry with earnestness, unless he is the sub- 
ject of an awakened attention. The jailer's 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 81 

attention was aroused by a special providence, 
as well as by the operations of the Spirit. So 
the Spirit may now use the providence of 
God, or the truth of God, or both, in arousing 
the sinner's attention, and causing him to feel 
an interest in spiritual things, and to be anx- 
ious in regard to his own salvation. And if 
you are inquiring what you must do, it is 
evident that you are disposed to give to this 
subject a consideration which hitherto you 
have not given it. Is this the case with you ? 
Has the truth indeed reached your heart? 
Is the Spirit operating there ? Let not your 
attention be diverted from the grand inquiry. 
And not only inquire what you must do, but 
do it ; not only ask for the way of life, but 
be resolved to walk in it. Many have lost 
their souls by having their attention diverted 
from the great question. Satan has taken 
advantage of their indecision, and borne them 
away in triumph to the world of woe. And 
this may be the case with you, notwithstand- 
ing your awakened attention, if you do not 
resolve with fixed purpose, for God and hea- 
ven. Your sins, your pleasures, your business, 
your associates, may plead with you to defer 
the great work yet for a little season ; but 
stop your ears to their solicitations, and an- 
swer all their pleas with the cry, Life, eternal 
life! How shall I obtain eternal life? 

This question implies anxiety. The one 
w T ho asks what he must do, feels some solici- 
tude about his eternal interests. He fears he 



OS THE SINNER DIRECTED 

may be lost. He wishes to know how he may- 
escape from hell, how reach heaven. There 
is a burden on his heart. His guilt oppresses 
him ; his danger alarms. It is no unmeaning 
question that he asks, for it comes from an 
anxious soul. His conscience is awake ; his 
fears are excited ; his heart impressed. Sal- 
vation is nigh ; he asks with anxious solici- 
tude, 'How may I obtain salvation? Is it 
thus with you? Dismiss not your anxiety, 
nor rest till you find the Saviour precious to 
your soul. 

This question implies some degree of ig- 
norance. At least this is the case with many 
who propose it. Some need no information 
as to what they must do. They have known 
the Scriptures from their childhood. Their 
proposing the question only implies their 
anxiety about their souls. Yet their convic- 
tions may be so deep as to cause them almost 
to despair of salvation ; and in such circum- 
stances they may ask for information how 
they may obtain peace. Others need instruc- 
tion. They have not been religiously edu- 
cated. Their views of truth are not clear. 
And when they ask what they must do, it is 
because they do not know how to obtain 
salvation. They are anxious, but in some 
degree ignorant. They feel that something 
must be done, but know not what to do. 
Hence they inquire. 

This question implies a desire for informa- 
tion. It was with this view that the jailer 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 83 

proposed it ; and with this view it is pro- 
posed by those who have been awakened by 
the Spirit of God, whose attention is aroused, 
and whose fears and anxieties are stirred 
within them. It is thus that it is proposed by 
you. You put it not as an idle question. It 
is not a question of mere curiosity, nor of 
speculation. It is a serious question — one of 
the most deeply serious questions ever pro- 
posed by man or to man. On the answer to 
this question hangs your eternal destiny. As 
it shall be answered to you, and as it shall be 
answered by you in your decision and con- 
duct, so shall you be happy or miserable for 
ever ! You ask, What must I do to be saved ? 
I answer in the words of Paul and Silas, 
" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou 
shalt be saved.'' But that I may not only 
point you to the way of life, but direct you 
in it. it may be proper to be more particular. 
Hence I observe, 

1. The first step toward salvation is to 
feel your need of it. This is clear and plain 
enough. " They that are whole need not a 
physician ; but they that are sick." Luke v. 
31. No one calls in the physician's aid until 
he feels it to be necessary. A sense of bodily 
ills drives us to the doctor. So it is with the 
soul and the great Physician. We cry not 
for mercy till we feel our need of it : we ask 
not for salvation till we feel that we are lost. 
The first step, then, is to feel our need. And 
that you may thus feel, look at your expo- 



84 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

sure. Review the particulars enumerated in 
the first chapter of this book. You are a 
sinner — far from righteousness — under the 
curse of God's law — condemned by your 
own conscience — in danger of hell ; you are 
in the way to perdition, in the broad road to 
death. How perilous your situation ! 

" How sad our state by nature is ! 
Our sin, how deep it stains !" 

Consider what has been done to save you. 
The Son of God has died ; his blood has been 
shed ; and the Spirit has been sent down to 
apply to your soul the purchased redemption. 
Look at your character — I mean not your 
reputation in the sight of men, but your 
moral standing in the sight of God. He can 
see nothing but corruption in you. You 
are by nature a child of wrath, because by 
nature corrupt. Eph. ii. 3. John iii. 6. 
Your heart is enmity against God ; and your 
life has been a constant series of transgress- 
ions of his law. Rom. viii. 7. Your sins 
have risen like mountains, and are enough 
to sink you to the lowest hell. Compare 
yourself with the law of God. Lay your 
heart and life alongside of each of the ten 
commandments; or take the sum of the ten 
in the two great commandments, — " Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind ; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
thyself." Matt. xxii. 37—39. And how far 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 85 

have you come from living up to these requi- 
sitions ! You have failed, not barely once 
or twice, but all your life. By the law is the 
knowledge of sin. Rom. iii. 20. By a faith- 
ful application of the law, in all its extent 
and spirituality, to your own case — to the 
frame of your own spirit and the tenor of 
your own conduct — to your own heart and 
life — you cannot fail to be convinced of your 
sinfulness and of your need of salvation. 
Pray also for the illuminating, the convincing 
and converting influences of the Spirit. He 
convinces of sin, slays false hopes, and 
sweeps away false confidences. You shall 
not have prayed long, with seriousness and 
earnestness, ere you feel, more deeply than 
ever, your need of the Saviour. And, 

" All the fitness he requireth, 
Is to feel your need of him : 
This he gives you — 
'T is the Spirit's rising beam." 

Even now you feel your need. Already you 
are convinced of your guilt. You are im- 
pressed with a sense of your sin and misery ; 
you know and feel that without an interest 
in the great salvation you must perish. 
Hence you ask what you must do. Not only 
is salvation brought nigh unto you, but you 
have taken the first step toward securing it. 
Your need is felt. But this by no means 
renders salvation certain. A step toward the 
way of life is not entering into it. Many 
8 



88 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

have gone as far, many have gone much 
farther, and done many things, and yet have 
lost their souls. You must go farther, or you 
will never be saved. Hence, I observe, 

2. The next step is to see a fitness, a pro- 
priety, and an adaptation to our wants, in the 
gospel way of salvation. First, we feel our 
need ; next, does the gospel meet our wants ? 
Is it adapted to our case ? Is there a fitness 
in this salvation to our necessities as sinners? 
This is what the awakened, anxious sinner 
is to see. And can he not see it ? . Is it not 
as clear as a sunbeam ? God by it is hon- 
oured. His holiness, justice, and truth are 
vindicated, and new lustre is given to all his 
perfections. And if his own glory is the end 
of his works, surely that end is attained by 
the scheme of redemption. There is in the 
gospel a fitness to this end or design. And 
this salvation too abases man. It assigns him 
his proper place in the dust ; and if humility, 
and self-abasement, and prayer, and trust in 
God, are becoming graces and exercises in 
man, then there is in the gospel salvation, an 
adaptation to this end, for it most effectually 
promotes them. It also provides for us a Sa- 
viour, who is just what we want, and all we 
want. There is in him an infinite fulness. 
He possesses unsearchable riches. Eph. hi. 8. 
He is a prophet to instruct our ignorance 
and illuminate our darkness ; he is a priest to 
satisfy for our sins, and intercede for our 
souls ; he is a king to subdue our enemies 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 87 

and rule us with his gentle sway. As God 
he has all power ; as man he can be touched 
with the feeling of our infirmities. Heb. iv. 
15. There is no want in our natures, nor in 
our circumstances, which is not met by his 
all-sufficiency- " He is the chiefest among 
ten thousand; he is altogether lovely." Sol. 
Song, v. 10. 16. "His name is as ointment 
poured forth ; all his garments smell of myrrh, 
and aloes, and cassia." Sol. Song i. 3. Ps. 
xlv. 8. Yet the un wakened sinner can see in 
him no beauty that he should desire him. 
Isa. liii. 2. To the indifferent and careless, 
as well as to the self-righteous, he is as a root 
out of a dry ground ; they can see nothing in 
him, nor in his salvation, which meets their 
wants. To them he hath no form nor comeli- 
ness. Isa. liii. 2, 3. But when one is awa- 
kened, and feels himself perishing, he begins 
to see in Jesus Christ, the Saviour he needs. 
He begins to see in the gospel scheme a fit- 
ness and propriety w r hich he never saw be- 
fore, and to behold in its provisions a wonder- 
ful adaptation to all his necessities. But 
many have seen and felt all this, and yet not 
closed with Christ. They have seen and felt 
all this, and yet remained unrenewed and 
unforgiven, and perished. Two steps to- 
ward the cross are not enough ; the sinner 
must go quite there, or die in his sins. 

3. The next step is to seek the renewal of 
your heart by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
Not one right step can be taken without the 



88 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

Spirit's aid ; we need his influences from the 
first ; and the reason why so many awakened 
sinners lose their convictions and again be- 
come careless, and why so many who once 
seemed to be converted, return again to the 
world, is because they were never born of 
the Spirit. And wherever conviction stops 
short of regeneration, there the sinner will 
stop short of Christ, and never enter the way 
of life. You see the danger then of resisting 
convictions and grieving the Spirit. Such a 
course, if successful, must of necessity end in 
perdition. Men must be born again, or they 
cannot be saved. John iii. 1 — 10. Hence 
they should cherish the Spirit's strivings and 
seek his influences in earnest prayer. It was 
said of Saul of Tarsus, when awakened on 
his way to Damascus, " Behold, he prayeth." 
Acts ix. 11. Prayer should be the sinner's 
resort when convinced of sin, and indeed at 
all times. He should cry with the publican, 
" God, be merciful to me, a sinner," Luke 
xviii. 13 ; with David, " Have mercy upon 
me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness : 
according unto the multitude of thy tender 
mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash 
me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse 
me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, 
O God, and renew a right spirit within me." 
Ps. li. 1, 2. 10. And with the prodigal he 
should say, " Father, I have sinned against 
heaven, and before thee," Luke xv. 18 — 21; 
and with blind Bartimeus, " Jesus, thou Son 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 89 

of David, have mercy on me." Mark x. 46, 
47. Nor should he be satisfied without a 
thorough work of grace upon his heart. He 
should not rest till he is a new creature in 
Christ Jesus. 2 Cor. v. 17. But many pray, 
who do not surrender themselves to Jesus 
Christ. This step does not save the soul ; for 
prayer is not faith. — Hence, 

4. The next step is the entire renunciation 
of ourselves, of all our refuges and false con- 
fidences. It is too often that many of these 
are between the sinner and the cross. He 
will stand upon his moral life, his works of 
merit, his charities, his prayers and tears. 
So long as these are in the way, so long as he 
rests in them or relies upon them, so long is 
he unprepared to receive and rest upon the 
Saviour of sinners and take refuge in his 
atoning sacrifice. Every thing of this kind 
must be renounced. You, reader, you must 
be brought to feel that 

" None but Jesus 
Can do helpless sinners good." 

The language of Jehovah is, "Thou hast 
destroyed thyself," Hos. xiii. 9 ; and the sinner 
must be brought to feel that he is self- 
destroyed and helpless, ere he is prepared to 
embrace the great salvation. And this he 
wall feel if his heart is renewed by the Spirit 
of God ; and when he is brought to this point, 
he is ready to take that step by which he 
8* 



90 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

enters the way of life and is clothed with the 
garments of salvation. 

5. That step is the reception of Jesus 
Christ by faith. Faith receives the testi- 
mony of God. It believes what God has 
said of his Son. Saving faith is reliance 
upon Jesus Christ for salvation. It is trust 
in Christ ; and has been thus defined, — 
" Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, 
whereby we receive and rest upon him alone 
for salvation, as he is offered to us in the 
gospel." He is offered to us in the gospel 
as our Saviour. First, we must feel our 
need of him ; second, we must see in him a 
fitness to our case; and then, renouncing 
ourselves and every other refuge, we must 
receive and rest upon him for salvation. This 
is the way of life ; and this is the way to 
enter it. There is no salvation if we stop 
short of this. We must have faith, or we 
cannot be justified; we must receive Jesus, 
and rest upon him, or we shall be lost ; for 
without faith it is impossible to please God. 
Heb. xi. 6. Do you feel yourself a sinner? 
Do you inquire what you must do 1 Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Saviour 
you need. Trust in him ; rely upon him 
with humble and obedient confidence. " He 
is the way, the truth, and the life : no man 
cometh unto the Father but by him." John 
xiv. 6. Receive him in all his offices, as 
your prophet, priest, and king, — as your 
Redeemer and your all, — that he of God 






IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 91 

may be made unto you wisdom, and right- 
eousness, and sanctification, and redemption. 
1 Cor. i. 30. 

Review now the steps which have been 
enumerated. Salvation is provided ; it is 
offered ; it is brought near to you ; and you 
inquire how you may secure it. The ques- 
tion implies an awakened attention to the 
subject ; it implies anxiety about the soul. 
And the answer is, — feel your need of it, see 
a fitness in it, seek the renovation of your 
heart by the power of the Holy Ghost, re- 
nounce yourself, receive and rely upon Jesus 
Christ. This is to believe in him ; this is the 
way of life; these steps lead to heaven. 
You must take them all, if you would gain 
the skies. Many have gone as far as the 
fourth; but not taking the fifth, they have 
remained in their sins. They have gone to 
the very gate of heaven, only to sink the 
deeper in hell ; they have gone almost to the 
cross, only to be ground to powder beneath 
that stone which is laid for a foundation in 
Zion. Isa. xxviii. 16; Matt. xxi. 42—44. O 
reader, stop not till you have entered the way 
of life. Rest not till your soul is safe. Go 
not almost to the cross ; go quite there. Not 
only behold and admire the Lamb of God, but 
embrace him by faith. Acts xiii. 41. And 
now while you feel your need of salvation, 
and see a fitness in it to your wants, close in 
with its offers, and secure to yourself an in- 
terest in its priceless blessings. While you 



92 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

confess your sins to God, and call on the 
Spirit to renew your heart, believe in Christ 
to the saving of your soul. Psa. li. 10, 11; 
Heb. x. 38, 39. 

Five steps have been described as leading 
the soul into the way of life. These might 
all be included in one, viz. coming to Christ ; 
for he says, " Come unto me ; and, him that 
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out/' 
Matt. xi. 28. John vi. 37. But no one ever 
came to Jesus without feeling his need of him, 
and seeing a fitness in him, and crying for 
mercy, and renouncing himself; and hence 
the view which has been given is correct and 
Scriptural. It authorizes no one to delay 
coming to Christ for a single moment ; for to 
come to him is to take the very steps de- 
scribed ; and to begin to take these steps, is to 
begin to come to the Saviour, and this should 
be done now. There is nothing to justify a 
moment's delay. 

" Let not conscience make you linger, 
Nor of fitness fondly dream.' * 

Say to every temptation and to every diffi- 
culty and discouragement, " Hinder me not." 
Gen. xxiv. 56. Cry unto God, "Turn thou 
me, and I shall be turned ; draw me, and I 
will run after thee." Jer. xxxi. 18. Sol. Song 
i. 4. Turn the eye of your mind to Jesus, 
saying, 

" Rock of ages, cleft for me, 
Let me hide myself in thee." 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 93 

When these steps shall have been taken — 
whether in the precise order enumerated, it 
matters not— you will begin to walk in new- 
ness of life. Rom. vi. 4. Evangelical repent- 
ance is inseparable from saving faith. No 
one ever repented without the exercise of 
faith in Christ ; and no one ever yet believed 
in Christ unto salvation, without exercising 
repentance for sin. " Repentance unto life is 
a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a 
true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the 
mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and 
hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with 
full purpose of, and endeavour after new obe- 
dience." To be saved, you must repent. Sin 
must be sorrowed for and forsaken. It must 
be confessed to God and deplored. You 
should mourn over the corruptions of your 
heart and life, the depravity of your nature 
and the vileness of your practice. "For godly 
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not 
to be repented of." 2 Cor. vii. 10. And the 
evidence of our repentance, and the fruits of 
our faith, must be seen in our lives. Our con- 
duct must witness to the sincerity and reality 
of our religion. " Without holiness no man 
shall see the Lord." Heb. xii. 14. Every 
man that hath hope in Christ, " purifieth him- 
self, even as he is pure." 1 John iii. 3. He 
begins the performance of religious duties; 
and having a principle of grace implanted in 
his heart, he continues firm and faithful, 
" growing in grace, and in the knowledge of 



94 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 2 Petei 
iii. 18. In his life is seen a practical exem- 
plification of Peter's exhortation, " and besides 
this, giving all diligence, add to your faith, 
virtue ; and to virtue, knowledge ; and to 
knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, 
patience ; and to patience, godliness ; and to 
godliness, brotherly kindness ; and to brotherly 
kindness, charity. For if these things be in 
you, and abound, they make you that ye shall 
neither be barren nor unfruitful in the know- 
ledge of our Lord Jesus Christ/' 2 Pet. i. 5-8. 
From what precedes it appears that the 
way of salvation is plain and easily under- 
stood. There is nothing dark nor obscure 
about it. A child can understand it. And 
if you perish, it will not be because you do 
not know the way of life. You have known 
it from childhood. It has been pointed out 
to you every Sabbath day. A voice has fol- 
lowed you from infancy upward, saying, 
" This is the way, walk thou in it." Isa. xxx. 
21. Your pathway through life has been set 
with guide-boards at every turn, pointing out 
to you the way to heaven. In helpless infancy 
you were lulled to sleep in your mother's 
arms with the song of redemption ; in your 
youth redeeming love was the theme that most 
frequently greeted your wayward ears ; and 
now salvation is the sound which reverberates 
through all the avenues of your soul; and when 
you die it will be in full view of the cross of 
Christ. The steps which lead to that only 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 95 

source of peace, of hope and joy, are clearly- 
pointed out and are fully known. You have 
been told, and you know, just where to place 
your feet to bridge the gulf which lies be- 
tween you and heaven. Place them there, 
and you are safe ; place them any where else, 
and you tread on sand, and sink in the fathom- 
less abyss beyond the reach of recovery ! 

The way of salvation is also easy, as well 
as plain. What can be easier ? 

" His help he '11 freely give, 
He makes no hard condition, 
'T is only — Look, and live." 

You ask what you must do. The answer is, 
Believe. " This is the work of God, that ye 
believe on him whom he hath sent." John vi. 
29. Of devising a better way of salvation, you 
would not for a moment think. I ask whether 
you could devise one that is easier ? I know 
indeed, it is difficult to sinful men. " Can the 
Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his 
spots'? then may ye also do good, that are 
accustomed to do evil." Jer. xiii. 23. The 
way is difficult to sinners because they are 
proud and wicked. It is hard for them to 
renounce themselves ; hard to submit to the 
righteousness of another; hard to cease to 
do evil, and learn to do well. Isa. i. 16, 17. 
Hence the gate is said to be strait and the 
way narrow. Matt. vii. 13, 14. But all these 
difficulties result from their own sinfulness. 
In itself considered, the way is easy ; and it 



96 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

leaves the sinner excuseless, because he cannot 
make his sinfulness an excuse for the neglect 
of salvation — he cannot make his sins his jus- 
tification before God. God has done all he 
consistently can — all that he ever will do — to 
make the way plain and easy, and hence they 
who perish are without excuse. This they' 
must ever feel. This you will feel, reader, if 
you are lost ! O then close with Christ ; be- 
lieve in him and be saved. You feel your 
need of him now; you see a fitness in him; 
renounce yourself, flee to his open arms, sur- 
render to him your heart, and devote to him 
the remnant of your days. Let your lan- 
guage be, 

'* Here, Lord, I give myself away 
'Tis all that I can do." 

" Seize the kind promise while it waits, 
And march to Zion's heavenly gates ; 
Believe — and take the promised rest; 
Obey — and be for ever blest." 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 97 



CHAPTER VI. 

EXCUSES. 

1 Kings xviii. 21. — How long halt ye between two opi- 
nions ? 

Isaiah i. 18. — Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
the Lord : though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 
as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they 
shall be as wool. 

The Scriptures give us a most delightful view 
of the Supreme Being. They represent him 
as providing salvation, offering it to us, and 
when we refuse to accept it, condescending 
to reason the matter with us. When we 
hesitate, he says, " How long halt ye ?" and 
when we would excuse ourselves, and cavil 
or object, he says, " Come now, and let us 
reason together." 

In the progress of this work, you have seen 
your exposure on account of sin ; what has 
been done to save you ; the nature of the sal- 
vation provided, and its free offer. You have 
been led, it may be, to feel your need of it, 
and to ask what you must do to be saved. 
The way of life has been pointed out to you; 
you have been told how to enter it ; and you 
are now debating with yourself whether you 
shall enter into it. You are halting between 
9 



98 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

two opinions ; and Jehovah says to you, 
" Come now, and let us reason together." 

But why do you hesitate ? Why halt be- 
tween two opinions 1 Is it not an easy ques- 
tion to decide ? You cannot hesitate because 
you have any doubts of what is duty ; for you 
know you ought at once to close with Christ 
and seek the salvation of your soul. You can- 
not hesitate because you know not what is 
your interest; for your own best good requires 
you without delay to turn unto the Lord. 
And there is surely difference enough be- 
tween heaven and hell, salvation and perdi- 
tion, eternal life and eternal death, to render 
a moment's hesitation alike unnecessary and 
inexcusable. 

You are a poor, miserable, condemned sin- 
ner. Jesus has died that you might live. You 
are directed to the way of salvation; you 
have taken some steps toward it ; you stand 
at its very entrance ; and the question which 
agitates your mind, and which you are about 
to decide, is, Shall I enter? Shall I close 
with Christ ? Shall I believe and be saved ? 
O think of your situation ! Awakened, 
alarmed, yet pausing at heaven's gate, and 
debating with yourself whether you shall se- 
cure the salvation of your soul — whether you 
will " make your calling and election sure !" 
2 Pet. i. 10. Why hesitate? 

Do you think God is so merciful that he 
will not punish you, even if you do not em- 
brace Christ? True, God is merciful. He 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 99 

is good, he is benevolent, he is long-suffering, 
he is very pitiful and of tender mercy. 2 Pet. 
iii. 9. Jas. v. 11. On all these points the 
Scriptures are full and explicit. They declare 
that Jehovah is the Lord God, merciful and 
gracious; and that his mercy endures for 
ever. Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7. Ps. cxviii. 1 — 4. But 
they are equally explicit in teaching that he 
is just. And justice is not inconsistent with 
mercy. A being perfect in all his attributes, 
must punish the guilty as well as reward the 
innocent. To treat the innocent and the 
guilty alike, would be to confound the dis- 
tinction between right and wrong, and de- 
stroy all the motives to virtue. It is true the 
righteous are not innocent, they belong to a 
fallen race ; but they are treated as innocent 
for the sake of Him who in their stead an- 
swered the demands of justice, being united 
to him by faith. Christ himself was innocent. 
11 He did no sin, neither was guile found in his 
mouth." 1 Pet. ii. 22. He suffered for the 
guilty. Our sins were laid on him ; he bore 
their punishment. Isa. liii. 6. And this was 
consistent with justice, because he was volun- 
tary in assuming our place. He laid down 
his life for us, as he himself declares — " No 
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of 
myself." John x. 17, 18. Yet he was deliv- 
ered up by the Father, who " made him who 
knew no sin to be sin for us." Rom. viii. 32. 
2 Cor. v. 21. And if God spared not his own 
Son, think you that he will spare the sinner 



100 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

who rejects him? Do you doubt whether 
God is just? View the agony of Jesus in the 
garden, and his sufferings on the cross. There, 
in characters which angels and men may read, 
it is written, God is just ! Do you doubt 
whether God will punish sinners ? Hear the 
dying Saviour himself exclaim — " My God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me V 9 Matt, 
xxvii. 46. That which the Saviour then suf- 
fered from the hidings of his Father's face, 
was no doubt somewhat of the nature of what 
the damned suffer in hell ; and there on the 
cross, in that hour of the power of darkness, 
when the Son of God expired, it was written, 
not only in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin, but 
in all the languages of the earth, and the uni- 
verse may read it, God will punish sinners ! 
He will by no means clear the guilty. Ex. 
xxxiv. 7. Do you doubt whether God will 
punish you if you reject his Son ? Reader, it 
is written, " He that hath the Son, hath life ; 
and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not 
life." 1 John v. 12. Sooner might Judas 
escape than you, if you believe not in Jesus. 
Judas went to his own place, and you must 
go there too, if you enter not into the way of 
life. Acts i. 25. God is merciful ; but the 
only way in which he can show mercy to 
you, is through Jesus Christ, by whom his 
justice has been satisfied. Believe in Jesus, 
and you shall live, " through God's abounding 
grace ;" reject Jesus and in your own person 
you must bear the wrath of God for ever, and 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 101 

be for ever satisfying, by your own sufferings, 
the justice of God. Nor can his justice be 
thus fully satisfied while eternity endures. It 
will ever be crying out for vengeance on you 
for the rejection of the Son of God, when he 
was freely offered to you. 

" Repent, the voice celestial cries, 

Nor longer dare delay : 
The wretch that scorns the mandate dies, 

And meets a fiery day. 

Bow, ere the awful trumpet sound, 

And call you to his bar : 
For mercy knows the appointed bound, 

And turns to vengeance there." 

" But who may abide the day of his coming 1 
and who shall stand w T hen he appeareth V 9 
Mai. iii. 2. " See that ye refuse not him that 
speaketh: for if they escaped not who refused 
him that spake on earth, much more shall not 
we escape, if we turn away from him that 
speaketh from heaven." Heb. xii. 25. 

Do you hesitate because you have some 
faint hope that God will save all men, whether 
they believe in Christ or not? After what 
has been said, I need not tarry long in an- 
swering this excuse. If God will certainly 
save all men, then what exposure is there 
from which you need to be saved? If ail 
are to be saved, then where is the need of 
anxiety about your soul 1 It is certainly very 
strange that the thousands on the day of Pen- 
9* 



102 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

tecost cried out, " Men and brethren, what 
shall we do?' if the Apostles preached the 
doctrine of universal salvation ! Acts ii. 37. 
It is certainly very strange that the Scriptures 
should insist so much upon the necessity of 
faith and repentance, and give such clear and 
vivid representations of future punishment, 
and of the eternity of that punishment, if all 
are to be saved at all events ! Have all the 
sinners who have died in their sins gone to 
heaven — the thieves, the murderers, the adul- 
terers? Rev. xxii. 15. Were the inhabitants 
of Sodom and Gomorrah swept to heaven in 
a shower of fire and brimstone ; and the old 
world carried thither by the flood which de- 
stroyed them ? Did Judas go direct to hea- 
ven when, after betraying his Master, he went 
and hanged himself, and falling headlong, he 
burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels 
gushed out? Has he not gone to his own 
place — to hell? Matt, xxvii. 5. Acts i. 18, 
25. And if but one has perished, then Uni- 
versalism is untrue; and may not all perish 
who die without faith in Christ? Such are 
the teachings of Scripture ; for " he that be- 
lieveth not shall be damned; and he that be- 
lieveth not the Son, shall not see life, but the 
wrath of God abideth on him." Mark xvi. 16. 
John iii. 36. Of all the delusions of the devil 
with w T hich corrupt man ever suffered himself 
to be deceived, none is more contrary to the 
express declarations and the whole tenor of 
the word of God, none is more unscriptural, 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 103 

nor more absurd, than this same doctrine of 
universal salvation ! It is a damnable error, 
a doctrine of the devil : its author is the father 
of lies. Gen. iii. 4. John viii. 44. 1 Tim. iv. 
1. It dishonours God's character; represents 
sin as a trifle ; and encourages transgression. 
It cuts off every motive to virtue, to amend- 
ment and reformation. If, dear reader, you 
are really convinced of sin by the Spirit of 
God, you cannot, for such a reason, hesitate 
long about entering the path to heaven. If 
you see your sins in their true light, as viola- 
lations of God's law, which is holy, just, and 
good, (Rom. vii. 12,) you must see that they 
deserve his wrath and curse for ever, and 
that you, on account of them, deserve his 
everlasting displeasure. Sin is an infinite 
evil, because committed against an infinite 
God, and it deserves an infinite punishment. 
True conviction implies correct views of sin; 
and correct views of sin are inconsistent with 
the belief that all men shall be saved ; for all 
men have not faith, and without faith no one 
can be saved. Many die without faith ; and 
they who thus die are lost. This will be your 
doom, if you enter not into the way of life ! 
For the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from 
heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming 
fire, taking vengeance on them that know not 
God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with ever- 
lasting destruction from the presence of the 
Lord, and from the glory of his power. — 



104 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

2 Thess. iii. 2. Heb. xi. 6. Mark xvi. 16. 
John viii. 21. 2 Thess. i. 7—10. 

Do you hesitate about closing with Christ 
because you have yet some hope of being 
saved by your works? But if this be the 
way to heaven, then why did Jesus die? 
Why do we need a Saviour, if our works 
can save us? And if salvation be of works, 
then where is grace ? It is excluded. Christ 
died in vain, if salvation be of works ; and 
then, too, there is no grace in our salvation. 
But " by grace are ye saved," saith Paul. Eph. 
ii. 8. w Now to him that worketh, is the re- 
ward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 
But to him that worketh not, but believeth 
on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is 
counted for righteousness." Hence the same 
apostle declares that a man is not justified 
by the works of the law, but by the faith of 
Jesus Christ. Gal. ii. 16. And it is written, 
"By the deeds of the law, there shall no 
flesh be justified." Rom. iii. 20. Such be- 
ing the plain declarations of Scripture, how 
can you hesitate to close with Christ, in the 
vain hope that your works will save you ? 
Such a hope is a spider's web. It will leave 
your soul defenceless in the day of God's anger. 

Or are you trying to make yourself better 
before you go to Jesus ? Remember, 

If you tarry till you 're better, 
Y"ou will never come at all : 

Not the righteous — 
Sinners Jesus came to call." 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 105 

A sick man, ready to expire, trying to make 
himself better before applying to the physi- 
cian ! A venomous disease is preying upon 
you ; there is but one Physician who can heal 
you ; and to him you will not apply ! You 
must first hazard the dangerous experiment 
of trying to cure yourself; or you must at 
least try to make yourself a little better be- 
fore you apply to the great Physician ! O, 
you are upon a perilous experiment ! Make 
yourself better you never can. Your case is 
growing worse ; your sins are increasing ; 
you are grieving the Spirit and slighting the 
Saviour who died for you ! Could you make 
yourself better, you might save yourself. 
Then why did the Saviour die ? Why was 
a Saviour provided 1 He came to save sin- 
ners ; and to save them from their sins. In 
all your sins, and with them all pressing upon 
you, go to him, and cry, Lord, save me, I 
perish ; Jesus, save me, or I die ! Matt. viii. 
25. 

Or do you feel yourself so great a sinner 
that you cannot be forgiven? Have you 
tried every expedient in the hope of finding 
relief, and are you now ready to despair? 
One expedient you have not tried ! That is 
faith in Jesus ; and that is the only way of 
peace. And do you hesitate to apply to him 
because your sins are so many and so great ? 
Why the very design for which he came into 
the world was to save just such sinners as 
you ! Do vour sins 



106 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

" surpass 
The power and glory of his grace ?" 

Do they exceed his boundless merits, his 
unsearchable riches, his infinite sacrifice, 
his everlasting righteousness? He is an all- 
sufficient Saviour. "All power is his in hea- 
ven and in earth." Matt, xxviii. 18. "He is 
able to save unto the uttermost." Heb. vii. 25. 
" His blood cleanseth from all sin." 1 John 
i. 7. He invites all to come unto him, and 
promises them rest. Matt. xi. 28 — 30. He 
invites you ; and were your sins ten thousand 
times as great as they are, the fountain which 
Christ hath opened for sin and for unclean- 
ness, is sufficient to wash them all away. 
Zech. xiii. 1. " Yea, though your sins be as 
scarlet, they shall be as snow; though they 
be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." 
Isa. i. 18. How many poor miserable sinners 
have found salvation in Christ ! And if you 
will but embrace him by faith, you too shall 
rejoice in his forgiving love. O, then no 
longer halt between two opinions ; no longer 
hesitate and delay; but now behold the Lamb 
of God with the eye of faith — look — believe 
— and live ! 

" No longer now delay, 

Nor vain excuses frame ; 
Christ bids you come to-day, 

Though poor, and blind, and lame : 
All things are ready— -sinner, come ! 
For every trembling soul there 's room." 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 107 

CHAPTER VII. 

MOTIVES. 

Luke xv. 17 — 20. — And when he came to himself, he said, 
How many hired servants of my father's have bread 
enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger ! I will 
arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, 
I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am 
no more worthy to be called thy son : make me as one 
of thy hired servants. And he arose, and came to his 
father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father 
saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his 
neck, and kissed him. 

And yet, dear reader, you stand halting be- 
tween life and death, heaven and hell. The 
reasons which cause you to hesitate have 
been examined. They are found of no avaiL 
You are without excuse; and yet you enter 
not by the door into the sheepfold. John x. 1. 
You act not only without reason, but against 
it. A rational being acting irrationally ! 
Would God that, like the prodigal, you might 
come to yourself! Then would you return 
to your Father's house ; then would you be- 
lieve in Jesus and enter the way of life. And 
would you be governed by reason, by con- 
science, by Scripture, by the Spirit of God, 
there are motives which should prevail with 
you to receive Jesus as your Saviour, and 



108 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

trust in the merit of his blood. Before I 
close this little volume, and take my final 
leave of you, let me faithfully urge some of 
these motives upon your serious and prayer- 
ful attention. 

God has claims upon you, and you cannot 
resist his claims without sin. He is your 
Maker ; and as a creature of his power, you 
ought to love and obey him. You have bro- 
ken his law, and he commands you to repent. 
Acts xvii. 30. He says to you, " My son, 
give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe 
my ways." Prov. xxiii. 26. He requires you 
to believe in his Son. John vi. 29. And it is 
reasonable and right ; it is your duty, and it 
should be done, and done now ! While you 
neglect it, you are disobeying God, and dis- 
honouring him. Yea, you are setting at 
nought his claims, treating his word as if it 
were untrue, and making God a liar, because 
you believe not the record that God gave of 
his Son. 1 John v. 10, 11. 

While you are halting, you are abusing the 
goodness of God which provided this great 
salvation. The plan of redemption originated 
in his infinite love. Every line is resplendent 
with the rays of his benevolence. " His good- 
ness here in full glory shines." If in the 
cross of Christ the justice of God is conspicu- 
ous, no less conspicuous there is his goodness. 
There is goodness in providing salvation ; in 
making the offer ; in sending the Spirit ; in 
convincing of sin : every thing around you 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 109 

speaks of God's goodness ; and this goodness 
you abuse while you hesitate about entering 
the way of life/ 

" Is this the kind return, 

And these the thanks we owe ? 
Thus to abuse eternal love, 

Whence all our blessings flow ! 

To what a stubborn frame 
Has sin reduced our mind ! * 

What strange rebellious wretches we, 
And God as strangely kind !" 

O, let the goodness of God lead you to re- 
pentance ! Rom. ii. 4. Let it bow your 
will, and constrain you to yield to the cross 
of Christ. 

While you are hesitating, you are slighting 
the compassion of the Saviour. His compas- 
sion is divine. It was this that moved him 
to undertake our case; and this animated 
him while here on earth, constrained him to be- 
come obedient unto death, and it now fills his 
bosom as he invites the perishing to come 
unto him. He pitied us even unto death ; he 
pities us now in his glory. He pities the poor 
hardened wretch who rejects him ; he pities 
the awakened soul, who mourns over his sins, 
and yet hesitates to embrace him. Can you 
slight his compassions'? Can you doubt his 
willingness to save? O, it is cruel thus to 
question his love, when he has proved it in his 
bloody agony and his dying groans ! 
10 



110 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

While you are hesitating, you are resisting 
and grieving the Spirit of God. It is by his 
influences that you have been brought to your 
present state of anxiety. He has awakened 
your attention, applied the truth to your heart, 
convinced you of sin, and led you to inquire 
what you must do. While God is waiting to 
be gracious, Isa. xxx. 18, his Spirit is wooing 
you to Christ ; and while you delay and hesi- 
tate, you resist and grieve the Spirit. This 
is perilous to your soul. The Spirit is a sove- 
reign, operating when and where he listeth. 
John iii. 8. He will not always strive. Gen. 
vi. 3. Yet it is by his influences that your 
heart must be renewed and you be drawn to 
Christ. If he depart, you are lost. While 
you feel his power, yield to him, and embrace 
the hope set before you. Heb. vi. 17-20. 
This is your only hope. There is no other 
way of deliverance from sin and misery. 
While you delay, your sins and your danger 
are increasing, and the probability of your 
salvation is hourly diminishing ! Salvation is 
now near ; behold the Lamb of God ! John i. 
29. Righteousness is near ; embrace it, and 
be delivered from condemnation ! Rom. viii. 1. 
How precious the blessings and privileges 
offered you — peace and joy in this world — a 
death of triumph — a heaven of glory ! O 
listen to Jehovah when he promises to make 
an everlasting covenant with you, even the 
sure mercies of David. Isa. lv. 3. He calls ; 
hear his voice, yield to his Spirit, believe in 






IN THE WAY OF LIFE. Ill 

his Son. " Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, 
and ye perish from the way, when his wrath 
is kindled but a little." Ps. "ii. 12. The word 
of God now is, "Turn you at my reproof: 
Behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, 1 
will make known my words unto you." But 
soon he will say, " Because I have called and 
ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, 
and no man regarded; but ye have set at 
nought all my counsel, and would none of 
my reproof: I also wiU laugh at your cala- 
mity : I will mock when your fear cometh ; 
when your fear cometh as desolation, and 
your destruction cometh as a w T hirlwind ; 
when distress and anguish cometh upon you. 
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not 
answer ; they shall seek me early, but they 
shall not find me ; for that they hated know- 
ledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: 
they would none of my counsel : they despised 
all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of 
the fruit of their own way, and be filled with 
their own devices." Prov. i. 23 — 31. 

I shall offer but one other motive for an 
immediate decision of the all important ques- 
tion. It is this — Your present situation is 
full of interest and of peril ; and upon the 
decision you now make may depend your 
everlasting destiny! The Spirit is at work 
with your heart; the Saviour is inviting you 
to his arms ; the Father is waiting to receive 
you graciously and love you freely. Hosea 
xiv. 2, 4. The angels of God are waiting to 



112 THE SINNER DIRECTED 

rejoice over you, Luke xv. 10; devils are 
ready to triumph in your ruin ; and you are 
almost persuaded to be a Christian, yet hesi- 
tating, halting, wavering; sometimes on the 
point of yielding your heart to Jesus and 
resting in him as your Saviour; and then 
again half inclined to banish the whole mat- 
ter from your mind — for the present ! How 
interesting this moment with you ! how cri- 
tical ! how perilous ! It is the turning point 
in your destiny ! If you close with Christ, 
you are saved ! If you refuse, you are lost ! 
The Spirit will depart; your heart become 
harder than ever ; and your last state will be 
worse than the first ! Matt. xii. 43-45. Then 
will there remain to you only a " certain fear- 
ful looking for of judgment and fiery indigna- 
tion !" Heb. x. 26, 27. O that I could say 
that word which the Spirit would bless to 
your salvation ! that word which, with God's 
blessing, would decide the doubtful case, and 
cause you to choose the good part ! But you 
must decide for yourself, as for yourself you 
must pass the river of death, and stand be- 
fore the judgment seat ! I can only point you 
to the Saviour — I can only direct you to the 
way of life. Would that I could lead you in 
it ! But you must enter it for yourself or 
die ! To enter it you must believe ; and be- 
lieving, you shall be saved. " Through this 
man is preached unto you the forgiveness of 
sins; and by him all that believe are justified 
from all things." Acts xiii. 38, 39. 



IN THE WAY OF LIFE. 113 

Come, humble sinner, in whose breast, 

A thousand thoughts revolve ; 
Come, with your guilt and fear oppresced, 

And make this last resolve : 

* I '11 go to Jesus, though my sin 

High as a mountain rose ; 
I know his courts, I '11 enter in, 

Whatever may oppose. 

Prostrate I '11 lie before his throne, 

And there my guilt confess ; 
I '11 tell him I 'm a wretch undone 

Without his sovereign grace. 

Perhaps he will admit my plea, 

Perhaps will hear my prayer ; 
But if I perish, I will pray, 

And perish only there. 

I can but perish if I go, 

I am resolved to try ; 
For if I stay away, I know 

I must forever die.' 



THE END. 



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